Super Calculator (Australia)

This super calculator follows the Australian Taxation Office’s rules for 2025–26 and 2026–27. Type your salary and it works out your employer’s super guarantee at 12%, limited by the maximum contribution base ($62,500 a quarter in 2025–26, $270,830 a year from 2026–27). Add salary sacrifice by the week, fortnight, month or year, and it totals everything that counts toward the concessional cap ($30,000 in 2025–26, $32,500 in 2026–27), takes off the 15% contributions tax, and shows how much room is left.

It warns you when you go over the cap, explains carry-forward of unused cap, and checks Division 293, the extra 15% charged once income plus concessional super passes $250,000. Low earners see the low income super tax offset, worth up to $500.

The comparison card answers the real question: is salary sacrifice worth it for you? It works out your take-home pay with and without sacrificing, using the resident tax rates, the low income tax offset and the Medicare levy, then sets that against the extra that lands in super. Finally it projects your balance to retirement with your own return, fees, pay rises and inflation, in today’s dollars or future dollars. It is general information, not financial advice, and every sum runs in your browser.

1. Pick the rules year (2026–27 is this income year; 2025–26 is still there) and type your yearly salary before super.
2. Check the employer super rate (12% unless your employer pays more) and add any salary sacrifice, choosing a week, fortnight, month or year.
3. If you have unused cap, open “Unused cap from earlier years” and type the amount myGov shows.
4. Read what goes into super, the cap room, any warnings, and the “Salary sacrifice or take it as pay?” comparison.
5. Under “Your super at retirement”, type your age, retirement age and balance, open “Assumptions” to change returns or fees, and explore the chart.

• Employer super guarantee at 12%, capped at the maximum contribution base for the year you choose.
• Salary sacrifice by week, fortnight, month or year, with a cap meter and the room left.
• Over-cap warning that taxes the excess the ATO’s way: added to taxable income with a 15% offset.
• Carry-forward of unused cap, Division 293 above $250,000 and the low income super tax offset.
• Take-home pay with and without salary sacrifice, using the 2025–26 or 2026–27 tax rates and Medicare levy.
• Projection to retirement with your own return, percentage and fixed fees, pay rises and inflation.
• Today’s dollars toggle, and a chart comparing your plan with employer super only.
• Every rate listed with a link to the ATO page it came from and the date it was checked.

• Salary sacrifice works best when your marginal tax rate is well above 15%. On a low income the saving can be small or nothing.
• Your employer can’t cut its own 12% because you sacrifice: super guarantee is worked out on your pay before the swap.
• Salary sacrifice still counts as income for study loan repayments, because it is a reportable super contribution.
• Fund fees vary widely. Try 0.5% against 1% in “Assumptions” to see what a cheaper fund is worth over 30 years.
• Today’s dollars is the fairest way to judge a retirement balance: it shows what the money would buy now.