Your total super balance thresholds are the numbers the Australian Taxation Office uses to decide, each financial year, what you can contribute and what concessions you can access. The anchor figure is the general transfer balance cap, which rises to $2.1 million from 1 July 2026.1Australian Taxation Office. General Transfer Balance Cap Indexation on 1 July 2026 Below that ceiling sit several other cut-offs, each attached to a different rule: $300,000 for the work test exemption, $500,000 for catch-up concessional contributions, and tiered points at $1.84 million and $1.97 million that govern how much you can bring forward. Where your balance sits at 30 June locks in your options for the whole next year.
The Thresholds at a Glance for 2026-27
- Under $300,000: work test exemption available (ages 67-74, one-time use).
- Under $500,000: catch-up concessional contributions using unused caps from the previous five years.
- Under $1.84 million: full three-year bring-forward of non-concessional contributions, up to $390,000.
- $1.84 million to under $1.97 million: two-year bring-forward, up to $260,000.
- $1.97 million to under $2.1 million: standard annual non-concessional cap only, $130,000.
- $2.1 million or more: non-concessional cap is nil; no government co-contribution; no spouse contribution offset for the receiving spouse.
The $2.1 million figure is the general transfer balance cap, indexed to CPI in $100,000 increments.2Australian Taxation Office. Calculating Your Personal Transfer Balance Cap It was $1.9 million for 2023-24 and 2024-25, rose to $2 million for 2025-26, and steps to $2.1 million from 1 July 2026.3Australian Taxation Office. Transfer Balance Cap There is no mid-year reassessment. If markets drop your balance after 1 July, your caps for that year are already set.
Non-Concessional Contributions and the Bring-Forward Tiers
Non-concessional (after-tax) contributions are the most directly affected by your TSB. From 1 July 2026, the standard annual cap is $130,000. If your TSB equals or exceeds $2.1 million on the previous 30 June, that cap drops to zero and you cannot make any after-tax contributions for the year.4Australian Taxation Office. Non-Concessional Contributions Cap
The bring-forward rule lets you pull future years’ caps into the current year. How much depends on your 30 June TSB:4Australian Taxation Office. Non-Concessional Contributions Cap
- Below $1.84 million: bring forward two additional years, up to $390,000 over three years.
- $1.84 million to under $1.97 million: bring forward one additional year, up to $260,000 over two years.
- $1.97 million to under $2.1 million: no bring-forward, but the $130,000 annual cap is still available.
- $2.1 million or more: nil cap.
These tiers matter most for one-off contributions such as an inheritance or the proceeds of a property sale. If your balance is sitting just above a threshold on 30 June, you lose access to the tier above for the whole following year. A modest reduction before year-end, such as a lump-sum withdrawal if you’re eligible, can move you into a higher bring-forward tier.
Catch-Up Concessional Contributions at $500,000
The catch-up rule lets you use unused concessional (before-tax) cap amounts from the previous five financial years, but only if your TSB was below $500,000 on the prior 30 June. Unused amounts expire after five years: any unused cap from 2021-22 that isn’t used by the end of 2026-27 is gone permanently.5Australian Taxation Office. Contributions Caps
The $500,000 threshold is considerably lower than the general transfer balance cap. If your balance is between $500,000 and $2.1 million, you can still make after-tax contributions but you cannot carry forward unused before-tax caps.
Government Co-Contribution and Spouse Offset
The government co-contribution adds up to $500 to your super if you make personal after-tax contributions and earn below set income thresholds. For 2026-27 the lower income threshold is $49,293 and the higher threshold is $64,293. To qualify, your TSB must be below the general transfer balance cap on the previous 30 June.6Australian Taxation Office. Government Contributions
The spouse contribution tax offset works differently. You can claim up to $540 for contributions to a low-income spouse’s fund, and it’s the receiving spouse’s TSB that must be below the general transfer balance cap at the start of the financial year. The contributing spouse’s balance is not tested.7Australian Taxation Office. Spouse Super Contributions
Work Test Exemption at $300,000
Since 1 July 2022, anyone under 75 can make voluntary contributions without meeting a work test. If you’re 67 to 74 and want to claim a personal tax deduction, though, you still need to satisfy the work test or use the work test exemption. The exemption gives you an extra 12 months to contribute after you last met the work test, and it requires your TSB to have been below $300,000 at the end of the previous financial year. You can only use it once.8Australian Taxation Office. Restrictions on Voluntary Contributions
SMSF Segregated Asset Method at $1.6 Million
SMSFs and small APRA funds usually choose between the segregated and proportionate methods for calculating exempt current pension income. A fund cannot use the segregated method if any member had a TSB above $1.6 million just before the start of the financial year, provided that member also has an interest in the fund and is receiving a retirement-phase income stream.9Australian Taxation Office. Total Superannuation Balance The $1.6 million figure here is not the general transfer balance cap and does not index in step with it, which trips up trustees who assume all thresholds move together.
What Actually Goes Into Your TSB
Understanding what makes up the number matters, because a small item you forgot can push you across a threshold. The ATO takes the snapshot at the close of 30 June each year, pulling together every super interest you hold.9Australian Taxation Office. Total Superannuation Balance
- Accumulation phase interests are counted at the amount that would be payable if you closed the interest.
- If you have a transfer balance account (because a pension has started), the ATO uses your transfer balance at 30 June rather than the pension account’s market value.
- Rollovers in transit at 30 June still count. This is easy to miss when switching funds late in the year.
- Personal injury and structured settlement contributions are subtracted, so a compensation payout doesn’t inflate your TSB and lock you out of contribution caps.
If you have an SMSF that borrowed through a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, part of the outstanding loan balance may be added to your TSB. This applies when the lender is a related party or a member has met a condition of release with no cashing restriction, such as reaching 65 or retiring, and covers LRBAs entered into or refinanced from 1 July 2018 onward. Where the loan is with an associate, every member whose interests are supported by the LRBA assets has their TSB adjusted, not only the member who arranged the borrowing.10Australian Taxation Office. LRBAs and Total Superannuation Balance
How to Check Where You Sit
The official figure is in ATO online services through your myGov account, under the Super section.11Australian Taxation Office. Keeping Track of Your Super Online It shows the most recent 30 June amount reported by your funds.
APRA-regulated funds have until 31 October to report 30 June balances to the ATO.12Australian Taxation Office. Annual Obligations and Balance Amounts If you check in August or September the figure may still show the prior year. Cross-check against your fund statement if you made large contributions, completed a rollover, or started a pension late in the year. Discrepancies usually come from a rollover that one fund has reported but the other hasn’t, and the receiving fund’s admin team can confirm the status.