Superannuation
Concessional Contributions Cap
The annual limit on how much you can contribute to super as concessional contributions - employer Superannuation Guarantee, salary sacrifice, and personal deductible contributions combined - before extra tax applies. From 1 July 2026, the cap is $32,500.
What happens if you go over
Contributions above this cap don't get the concessional 15% rate - instead, the excess becomes an Excess Concessional Contribution (ECC), added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate, with a 15% offset to account for the contributions tax already paid inside the fund. If the ECC isn't withdrawn from your super fund, it's then treated as a non-concessional contribution and counts towards your Non-Concessional Contributions cap as well - so a single excess amount can end up assessed under both caps if left in place. If you have unused cap space from the past five years, you may be able to contribute more than the standard cap in a single year - see Concessional Carry Forward.
How the cap indexes
The concessional contributions cap indexes over time in increments of $2,500, in line with the Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) index. It does not rise every year - only when cumulative AWOTE growth is enough to push the rounded figure up by another $2,500 step.
In Canwi, projections use your plan's Wage Growth assumption as the AWOTE growth rate when modelling how the concessional cap steps up over time. Change Wage Growth in your plan assumptions and the projected future caps move with it.
For the official rules and current figures, see the ATO's concessional contributions cap page.
Related terms
See it in your plan
Canwi models Australian tax, super, and pension rules so you can explore decisions like this in a full financial plan.