Tools · 2026-27 figures
Salary sacrifice super calculator
Put part of your salary into super before tax and it's taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate. This works out what that does to your take-home pay, how much tax you save, what lands in your super, and whether you go over the cap. Free, no sign-up, and every assumption is on the page.
Figures last checked:
Better off by
$1,700
Extra in super, less the pay you give up, against taking it as salary.
Take-home pay
−$6,800
Less pay each year than without it: the sacrifice, less the tax you no longer pay.
Tax saved
$3,200
Income tax and Medicare levy, each year. Your marginal rate is 32% with the levy.
Into your super
$8,500
After $1,500 of 15% contributions tax, taken by your fund.
Concessional contributions: $10,800 super guarantee + $10,000 salary sacrifice = $20,800, against a cap of $32,500.
An estimate for one financial year, not advice. It uses 2026-27 resident tax rates, the Medicare levy with the single low-income reduction, and super guarantee on your full salary up to the $270,830 maximum contribution base, as the ATO says your employer must pay. It ignores the low income tax offset, the low income super tax offset and other offsets, the Medicare levy surcharge, study loan repayments, the excess contributions charge, fund fees and insurance, and investment returns. Per-pay figures are the yearly ones divided evenly; your payslip withholding will differ a little. Read the ATO's salary sacrificing super page and talk to your employer and fund before you start.
How salary sacrifice works
Less pay now, more in super, less tax on the way.
01
Agree it first
Set it up with your employer before you do the work it pays for. Pay you've already earned, including leave and bonuses, can't be sacrificed afterwards.
02
No income tax on it
The sacrificed part isn't assessable income, so no tax or Medicare levy is withheld from it. Your take-home pay falls by less than the amount you sacrifice.
03
15% in the fund
Your fund takes 15% contributions tax instead. Your employer still pays the full 12% super guarantee on your salary as if you hadn't sacrificed.
04
Mind the cap
Super guarantee and sacrifice together count toward the $32,500 concessional cap. Over it, the tax saving is lost; over $250,000 of income, Division 293 tax takes part of it back.
When it's worth it
The higher your tax rate, the more it saves.
On a $90,000 salary, sacrificing $10,000 saves $3,200 of tax at a 32% marginal rate. The fund takes $1,500, so $8,500 lands in super while take-home pay falls by $6,800: $1,700 better off, if you count money in super as yours. Here's the same $10,000 at other salaries:
| Salary | Marginal rate | Take-home pay | Into super | Better off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | 17% | −$8,299 | $8,500 | $201 |
| $90,000 | 32% | −$6,800 | $8,500 | $1,700 |
| $150,000 | 39% | −$6,100 | $8,500 | $2,400 |
| $180,000 | 39% | −$6,100 | $8,500 | $2,400 |
| $200,000* | 47% | −$5,780 | $8,500 | $2,720 |
$10,000 a year, 2026-27 rates with the Medicare levy, before investment returns. Marginal rate is on the salary before the sacrifice. *At $200,000 the $24,000 super guarantee plus the $10,000 is $1,500 over the $32,500 cap, and that part saves nothing.
Where your income tax rate is 15%, the same as the contributions tax, the saving is little more than the Medicare levy. If you earn $37,000 or less, the ATO's low income super tax offset pays 15% of your concessional contributions back into your fund, up to $500 a year; the calculator leaves it out.
The real cost is access. Money in super stays there until you retire or meet another condition of release, so sacrifice only what you won't need, and remember that a lender assessing a home loan sees the lower take-home pay. The ATO also notes that salary sacrifice can affect the Medicare levy surcharge, study loan repayments, some tax offsets, child support and some government benefits.
Saving for a first home
Salary sacrifice is how the FHSS scheme is filled.
If you've never owned property in Australia, the First Home Super Saver scheme lets you take voluntary contributions back out to buy your first home: up to $15,000 a year and $50,000 in total, with deemed earnings, taxed on release at your marginal rate less a 30% offset. Salary sacrifice is the usual way in, so the tax saving above becomes deposit rather than retirement savings.
FHSS calculator: how much more deposit the scheme gives you than saving the same pay. How the FHSS scheme works: eligibility, what counts, and the deadlines.
Questions
Common questions about salary sacrificing super.
How does salary sacrifice into super work?
You agree with your employer, before you do the work, to have part of your salary paid into your super fund instead of to you. You pay no income tax or Medicare levy on that part. Your fund takes 15% contributions tax from it instead, which is less than most people's marginal rate, so more of the same salary ends up yours.
Does salary sacrifice reduce my employer's super guarantee?
No. The ATO says your employer must still pay your full super guarantee as though there was no salary sacrifice arrangement, and the sacrificed amount can't count toward it. In 2026-27 the super guarantee is 12% of your earnings.
How much can I salary sacrifice into super?
There is no limit on the sacrifice itself, but only $32,500 a year of concessional contributions is taxed at the concessional rate in 2026-27, and your employer's super guarantee counts toward that. Above the cap, the excess is taxed at your marginal rate less a 15% offset. If your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous year, you can use unused cap from up to 5 earlier years.
Is salary sacrificing into super worth it?
The saving is the gap between your marginal rate and the 15% contributions tax, so it's worth most on higher incomes and very little where your income tax rate is 15%. The catch is access: money in super stays there until you retire or meet another condition of release, unless you use it through the First Home Super Saver scheme. Your take-home pay also falls, which a lender will see.
Can I use salary sacrifice to save for a home deposit?
Yes, through the First Home Super Saver scheme if you've never owned property in Australia. Up to $15,000 of voluntary contributions a year, and $50,000 in total, count toward a release for a first home: 85% of them come back, plus deemed earnings, taxed at your marginal rate less a 30% offset. The FHSS calculator works out how much more deposit that gives you.
What is Division 293 tax?
An extra 15% tax on concessional contributions when your income plus those contributions is more than $250,000. It's charged on the lesser of your contributions and the amount over the threshold, and the ATO sends you a notice once it has your tax return and your fund's report. At the top marginal rate of 47% with the Medicare levy, it cuts the saving on each sacrificed dollar from 32 cents to 17, but doesn't remove it.
The 2026-27 figures
What this calculator uses.
- Tax brackets
- 2026-27 resident rates
- Medicare low-income thresholds
- $28,011 to $35,013, 2025-26 (latest published)
- Super guarantee
- 12% from 1 July 2025
- Maximum contribution base
- $270,830 a year
- Concessional cap
- $32,500
- Carry-forward of unused cap
- Total super balance under $500,000, up to 5 years
- Division 293 tax
- 15% above $250,000
Each label links to the ATO page it was checked against on 12 October 2026. The tax rates, caps and super guarantee are the same constants the FHSS calculator uses, so the two always agree.