Salary Sacrifice Super Calculator: How Much Tax Do You Save?
Send part of your before-tax salary into super and it's taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate. This tool shows your exact saving for 2025-26 or 2026-27, what your take-home pay really drops by each pay, and whether you'd breach the concessional cap.
The straight answer
Sacrificed salary is taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate — that gap is the whole game, and the cap is $30,000 this year with your employer's 12% counted in. The catch: it's locked until 60, and your HECS repayment doesn't shrink.
Estimate only — general information, not financial or tax advice. Assumes a single Australian resident with private hospital cover, salary as the only income and no deductions. Confirm with the ATO or a registered tax agent before acting.
Per $1,000 sacrificed: take-home now vs super later, at each bracket
- Kept as take-home pay (after tax + Medicare)
- Lands in super (after 15% contributions tax)
Illustration only. Assumes the full 2% Medicare levy applies in taxed brackets, and ignores HECS/HELP, offsets and Division 293. Your bracket is highlighted. Super is locked until preservation age (60).
What this calculator does
It runs your pay twice through the same tax engine as our income tax & take-home pay calculator — once without salary sacrifice, once with it — and compares the two.
- Gross salary your pay taxed with no sacrifice — the baseline.
- Sacrifice the slice comes off taxable income — your marginal rate stops applying.
- 15% in the fund the fund deducts contributions tax; the rest lands in super.
- Compare take-home gap = lifestyle cost; tax gap = your saving.
What the outputs mean
The gap in take-home pay is what the sacrifice really costs your lifestyle. The sacrificed amount, minus the 15% contributions tax your super fund deducts, is what lands in your fund. The difference between those two numbers is your tax saving, using the official Australian Taxation Office (ATO) rates for 2025-26 and the legislated 2026-27 rates.
Exactly how the numbers are worked out
Give up $680 of take-home, land $850 in super — you're $170 ahead per $1,000 before the money earns a cent. That's a 25% uplift on the 30% bracket, and it's the tax treatment doing the work, not your fund manager.
Salary sacrifice reduces your taxable income, so you stop paying your marginal tax rate plus the 2% Medicare levy on the sacrificed slice. Instead, the money goes into super as a concessional (before-tax) contribution, where the fund taxes it at a flat 15% (ATO, FY2025-26).
Where the $170 per $1,000 comes from
On the 30% bracket, each $1,000 sacrificed costs you $680 of take-home pay (you save $300 tax + $20 Medicare levy) but $850 arrives in super — you are $170 ahead per $1,000, an instant 25% uplift before any investment returns.
The HECS/HELP trap: repayments don't shrink
One trap the calculator handles for you: HECS/HELP (Higher Education Loan Program) repayments are based on your "repayment income", which adds salary-sacrificed super back as a reportable super contribution. So sacrificing does not reduce your compulsory study-loan repayment — the tool keeps it assessed on your full pre-sacrifice salary (ATO). The same add-back applies to Division 293 income, below.
Your employer's 12% SG is protected
Also worth knowing: since 1 January 2020 your employer must calculate the super guarantee (SG) — 12% from 1 July 2025 (ATO) — on your full pre-sacrifice salary. Salary sacrifice can no longer shrink your employer's compulsory contribution.
The point: the saving is your marginal rate minus 15%.
The concessional cap — and carry-forward
The cap is $30,000 for 2025-26, rising to $32,500 from 1 July 2026 (ATO). Carry-forward is available if your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June last year.
All before-tax contributions — employer SG, salary sacrifice, and personal contributions you claim a deduction for — count towards one yearly limit: the concessional contributions cap. The calculator adds your employer's 12% SG to your sacrifice and warns you as you approach or pass the cap.
Over the cap: the benefit cancels
Go over the cap and the excess is taxed at your marginal rate (with a 15% offset for the contributions tax already paid) — which cancels the benefit.
Carry-forward: the escape hatch
There's a useful escape hatch: carry-forward. If your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year, unused cap amounts from up to five previous years can be used on top of this year's cap (ATO). Check your exact carry-forward balance in ATO online services via myGov before relying on it.
The point: the cap includes your employer's 12% SG.
High incomes: Division 293
Division 293 is an extra 15% tax on concessional contributions once your income plus concessional contributions passes $250,000 (ATO). Affected contributions are effectively taxed at 30% rather than 15%.
Why you can't sidestep it (and when it's still worth it)
You can't sidestep it by sacrificing more — sacrificed amounts are added back into the income test. The calculator flags when you're in Division 293 territory; even then, 30% is still below the top marginal rate of 45% plus Medicare, so sacrifice can remain worthwhile — it's just less generous.
Low incomes: LISTO
Earn $37,000 or less and the ATO refunds the contributions tax automatically, up to $500 a year. From 1 July 2027 the threshold rises to $45,000 and the cap to $810.
Below the $18,200 tax-free threshold, salary sacrifice can genuinely cost you money — 15% contributions tax versus the 0% you'd otherwise pay. The low income superannuation tax offset (LISTO) softens this.
How the LISTO refund works
Earn $37,000 or less and the ATO automatically refunds the contributions tax on your concessional contributions into your fund, up to $500 a year (ATO, FY2025-26). The government has announced the threshold will rise to $45,000, with a maximum of $810, from 1 July 2027.
Is super the right home for the money?
Three common homes for spare cash:
| Option | Mechanics |
|---|---|
| Salary sacrifice into super | Excellent tax mechanics — but the money is locked until 60 |
| Pay down the mortgage | A guaranteed, tax-free "return" at your loan rate — compare with our mortgage vs invest tool and the pay off the mortgage or invest guide |
| Invest outside super | Keeps the money accessible — see the investing hub, the ETF investing guide and the franking credits calculator |
Your call
The mechanism is the whole story: sacrificed dollars are taxed at 15% inside super instead of your marginal rate outside it, and the gap between those two numbers is the saving. From the 30% bracket up, that gap does the heavy lifting — $1,000 sacrificed costs $680 of take-home and lands $850 in super, before the money earns a cent. Below the $37,000 LISTO threshold the gap is small or negative, and either way the money is locked until 60 — so access matters as much as tax. Check your $30,000 concessional cap (employer contributions count toward it) before the saving means anything. The numbers above show what the gap is worth at your income; whether the lock-up is worth the gap is your call — and super is exactly the territory where a licensed adviser earns their fee.
Frequently asked questions
- What is salary sacrificing into super?
- Salary sacrifice is an agreement with your employer to pay part of your before-tax salary straight into your super fund instead of your bank account. The sacrificed amount is taxed at 15% inside the fund (the contributions tax) rather than at your marginal income tax rate, which can be up to 45% plus the 2% Medicare levy. It counts as a concessional (before-tax) contribution, alongside your employer's 12% super guarantee. Since 1 January 2020 your employer must still calculate the 12% super guarantee on your full pre-sacrifice salary.
- What is the concessional contributions cap, and what is carry-forward?
- The concessional cap is the yearly limit on before-tax super contributions: $30,000 in 2025-26, rising to $32,500 from 1 July 2026 (ATO). It covers your employer's super guarantee plus salary sacrifice plus personal deductible contributions. If your total super balance was under $500,000 at 30 June of the previous financial year, you can also use unused cap amounts carried forward from up to five previous years. Going over the cap means the excess is taxed at your marginal rate (with a 15% offset) instead.
- What is Division 293 tax?
- Division 293 is an extra 15% tax on concessional contributions for high earners. It applies when your income plus concessional contributions exceeds $250,000, and is charged on the lesser of your contributions or the amount above the threshold — so affected contributions are effectively taxed at 30% instead of 15%. Salary sacrificing cannot dodge it: sacrificed amounts are added back when the ATO works out your Division 293 income. Even at 30%, contributions are still taxed less than the 47% top marginal rate.
- I earn under $37,000 — is salary sacrifice worth it?
- Often not, and below the $18,200 tax-free threshold it can actually cost you money, because 15% contributions tax is more than the 0% you would have paid. The low income superannuation tax offset (LISTO) softens this: if your income is $37,000 or less, the ATO automatically refunds the contributions tax on your concessional contributions into your fund, up to $500 a year. The government has announced the LISTO threshold will rise to $45,000 (max $810) from 1 July 2027.
- Is salary sacrifice worth it at my tax bracket?
- The saving is the gap between your marginal rate and the 15% contributions tax. On the 30% bracket (plus 2% Medicare levy), every $1,000 sacrificed costs you $680 in take-home pay but puts $850 into super — an instant 25% uplift before any investment returns. On the 45% bracket the uplift is larger; on the 16% bracket it is small. The trade-off is access: the money is locked away until you reach preservation age, which is 60. This calculator shows the exact numbers for your salary — it is general information, not personal advice.
General information only — an estimate, not financial, tax, credit or legal advice. Figures current as at FY2025-26 / FY2026-27, verified July 2026. Confirm with the ATO or a registered tax agent.
Sources: ATO — Super guarantee (12% from 1 July 2025); ATO — Contributions caps ($30,000 FY2025-26, $32,500 FY2026-27, carry-forward rules); ATO — Salary sacrificing super (15% contributions tax, SG base protection); ATO — Division 293 tax ($250,000 threshold); ATO — Low income super tax offset (LISTO, up to $500 at incomes ≤ $37,000); ATO — Tax rates – Australian resident, Medicare levy, Low income tax offset and Study and training support loans rates and repayment thresholds (via the shared plainmoney tax engine, FY2025-26 and legislated FY2026-27); ATO — Retirement withdrawal (preservation age 60).