Super and salary sacrifice calculator for Australia

Enter a salary and the amount you plan to sacrifice to see how much take home pay falls and how much more reaches super.

Yearly pay before tax and before any salary sacrifice.

With a package, the super guarantee is taken out of the figure above first.

Pay your employer sends to your fund before tax instead of to your bank account.

Settings

Only counts when above the 1,000 dollar standard deduction, which applies otherwise.

Take home pay falls by

0.00

The cost of the sacrifice to your bank account over the year.

Super rises by
0.00
Net gain a year
0.00
Take home pay with the sacrifice
0.00
Take home pay without it
0.00
Concessional contributions
0.00
Room left under the cap
0.00
Super guarantee from your employer
0.00

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For information only, not financial, tax or legal advice.

Last updated . Method checked . Rates checked 2 November 2026. Methodology

Salary sacrifice sends part of your pay to your super fund before income tax. You lose that pay from your bank account, but the fund taxes it at 15% instead of your marginal rate plus the Medicare levy, so more of each dollar is kept. This calculator works out a full 2026-27 income year twice, once without the sacrifice and once with it, on the resident tax rates, the low income tax offset, the 1,000 dollar standard deduction and the Medicare levy. It then shows the fall in take home pay, the rise in super after contributions tax and the difference between them. It adds the employer's 12% super guarantee, compares the total with the 32,500 dollar concessional cap and works out Division 293 tax when income passes 250,000 dollars. The sums run in this tab only.

How to use the Super Calculator

  1. Enter your yearly salary before tax.
  2. Say whether super is paid on top or the salary is a package that includes it. Tip: A package of 100,800 is a salary of 90,000 plus 10,800 super.
  3. Enter the amount you plan to sacrifice to super each year.
  4. Read the fall in take home pay, the rise in super and the net gain.
  5. Check the room left under the concessional cap and the table of both years.

Worked example

An employee on a 90,000 salary with super paid on top sacrifices 10,000 a year to super in income year 2026-27. They claim no work expenses above the standard deduction. All figures are AUD.

InputValue
Salary for the yearAUD 90,000.00, super on top
Salary sacrifice to superAUD 10,000.00 a year
 
Without: taxable 90,000 - 1,000 = 89,000; tax 4,020 + 30% x 44,000 = 17,220; levy 1,780; take home 71,000
With: taxable 80,000 - 1,000 = 79,000; tax 4,020 + 30% x 34,000 = 14,220; levy 1,580; take home 64,200
Take home falls by 71,000 - 64,200 = 6,800
Super rises by 10,000 - 15% x 10,000 = 8,500, a net gain of 1,700
Concessional contributions = 12% x 90,000 + 10,000 = 20,800, which leaves 11,700 under the cap
Take home pay falls by
AUD 6,800.00
Super rises by
AUD 8,500.00
Net gain a year
AUD 1,700.00
Take home pay with the sacrifice
AUD 64,200.00
Room left under the cap
AUD 11,700.00

Each sacrificed dollar here would have lost 32 cents as pay and loses 15 cents in the fund, so the 17 cent gap on 10,000 is the 1,700.

How salary sacrifice is worked out

Taxable income = salary - sacrifice - the larger of the standard deduction and work expenses
Take home pay = salary - sacrifice - (income tax - low income tax offset) - Medicare levy
Rise in super = sacrifice - 15% x sacrifice
Net gain = rise in super - fall in take home pay - any rise in Division 293 tax
Concessional contributions = 12% x salary + sacrifice, checked against the 32,500 cap

Salary sacrifice is an agreement with your employer to pay part of your salary into super before tax. The calculator works out the whole income year two ways, side by side, so every rule that depends on income is applied to each. The tax on each side uses the resident brackets for 2026-27, the low income tax offset and the Medicare levy with its low income shade in, the same rules as the pay calculator.

From 2026-27 a resident employee gets a 1,000 dollar standard deduction for work expenses, or the expenses actually claimed when they are larger. It comes off the pay left after the sacrifice. The difference between the two take home figures is the cost of the sacrifice to your bank account.

On the super side, the fund pays 15% contributions tax on every concessional contribution, which is both the employer's guarantee and your sacrifice. The rise in super is the sacrifice less that tax. The guarantee is 12% of salary before the sacrifice, up to the maximum contribution base of 270,830 dollars a year, and it is the same in both columns.

When income plus concessional contributions passes 250,000 dollars, Division 293 adds 15% on the smaller of the contributions under the cap and the amount over that line. The calculator shows it in the table and subtracts any rise in it from the net gain. Contributions over the 32,500 dollar cap trigger a warning: on assessment the excess is added to your taxable income, which the page does not model.

The net gain is what super gains beyond what take home pay loses. It is largest where the marginal rate is highest and can be small near the tax free threshold. The rates come from the same file as the other Australia tools, checked on 2 November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How does salary sacrifice to super save tax?

Sacrificed pay skips income tax and the Medicare levy and is taxed 15% in the fund instead. On a 90,000 salary, sacrificing 10,000 lowers take home pay by 6,800, because that 10,000 would have lost 30% income tax and 2% levy. The fund keeps 8,500 of it after contributions tax, so super gains 1,700 more than take home pay loses over the year.

What is the concessional contributions cap for 2026-27?

32,500 dollars a year, up from 30,000 in 2025-26. It covers the employer's super guarantee and everything you sacrifice. With a 90,000 salary the guarantee is 10,800, so about 21,700 of sacrifice fits under it. Unused cap from the previous five years can be carried forward when your total super balance was under 500,000 on the previous 30 June.

Does salary sacrifice reduce my employer's super guarantee?

This page assumes it does not, and works out the 12% guarantee on salary before the sacrifice. Since 1 July 2026 the guarantee is paid each payday on qualifying earnings under Payday Super. Whether sacrificed pay is part of qualifying earnings was not confirmed on an official page, so the guarantee on a payslip could be lower by 12% of the sacrifice.

What is Division 293 tax?

An extra 15% tax on concessional contributions for people whose income plus those contributions is over 250,000 dollars. It applies to the lesser of the contributions and the amount above the line. On a 300,000 salary with no sacrifice it comes to 4,874.94 for the year. The ATO assesses it after the year ends, so the calculator shows it apart from take home pay.

Why is the gain small on a low salary?

The saving is the gap between your marginal rate and the 15% the fund pays. At a 30,000 salary the first tax rate is 15% and the Medicare levy is still being phased in, so sacrificing 3,000 cuts take home pay by 2,451.10 while super rises by 2,550, a gain of only 98.90 for the year.

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