Salary Sacrifice Super Calculator
See what salary sacrificing into super does to your take-home pay, your tax and the super that lands in your account for 2026–27, and how much room is left under the concessional cap.
Your result
Better off overall by
$1,700.00 a year
Take-home pay −$6,800.00 · super after tax +$8,500.00
- You have $10,500.00 of room left under the $32,500.00 concessional cap for 2026–27.
Australian resident with salary or wages. Employer super guarantee is paid on your salary before the sacrifice. General information, not financial advice.
Rates checked 12 October 2026 against the ATO · How we calculate · Calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Take-home pay vs super
| Without | With salary sacrifice | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary before tax | $100,000.00 | $100,000.00 |
| Salary sacrificed to super | $0.00 | $10,000.00 |
| Taxable income | $99,000.00 | $89,000.00 |
| Income tax and Medicare | $22,200.00 | $19,000.00 |
| Take-home pay | $77,800.00 | $71,000.00 |
| Employer super guarantee | $12,000.00 | $12,000.00 |
| 15% contributions tax | $1,800.00 | $3,300.00 |
| Into super after tax | $10,200.00 | $18,700.00 |
| Take-home pay plus super | $88,000.00 | $89,700.00 |
How the trade-off works
Money you sacrifice is paid into super before income tax. Instead of your marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare levy, it is taxed at 15% in the fund. On $100,000, your marginal rate is 30%, so each $1 sacrificed costs about $0.68 of take-home pay and puts $0.85 into super.
Sacrificing $10,000 a year cuts take-home pay by $6,800.00 ($261.54 a fortnight) and adds $8,500.00 to super after tax, a gain of $1,700.00 overall. The catch is access: the money stays in super until you meet a condition of release, such as retiring.
See what the extra does to your balance at retirement with the super calculator.
Concessional cap and carry-forward
The concessional contributions cap for 2026–27 is $32,500. It covers your employer’s super guarantee, salary sacrifice and any personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction, across all your funds. Contributions count in the year your fund receives them.
If your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous year, you can add unused cap amounts from up to 5 earlier years, oldest first. Unused amounts expire after 5 years. Your available amounts are shown in ATO online services through myGov.
Contributions over your cap are added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate, less a 15% offset for the tax the fund has already paid.
Source: Concessional contributions cap, ATO, last updated 2 July 2026.
Division 293 note
If your income plus concessional contributions is more than $250,000, an extra 15% Division 293 tax applies to the lesser of your concessional contributions and the amount over the threshold, so those contributions are taxed at 30% instead of 15%. For Division 293, income is your taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits and net investment losses. The calculator includes it, using taxable income only.
On $240,000, Division 293 tax is $2,670.00 whether or not you sacrifice $2,500, because moving salary into super doesn’t change income plus contributions. Sacrificing leaves you $800.00 better off a year, because the dollars sacrificed would otherwise be taxed at the top marginal rate plus the Medicare levy.
Source: Division 293 tax on concessional contributions by high-income earners, ATO, last updated 24 August 2026.
Other salary packaging items
Salary packaging can cover other benefits, such as a car, laptop or work tools. Many are fringe benefits your employer pays fringe benefits tax on, and some work-related items are exempt. From 1 April 2027, work-related items provided through salary sacrifice will no longer be exempt from fringe benefits tax. This calculator covers super only, because the value of other items depends on your employer’s fringe benefits tax position. Source: Salary sacrificing for employees, ATO, last updated 11 August 2026.
For a car, the novated lease calculator compares an electric car and a petrol car, including the electric car FBT exemption.
Frequently asked questions
Does salary sacrifice reduce my super guarantee?
No. Your employer must still pay the full super guarantee as though there were no salary sacrifice, and the sacrificed amount is paid on top. On $100,000 that is $12,000.00 of super guarantee whether or not you sacrifice. Source: Salary sacrificing for employees, ATO, last updated 11 August 2026.
Is salary sacrifice worth it on a low income?
Less so. Sacrificed super is taxed at 15% in the fund, so the saving is the gap between your marginal rate plus the Medicare levy and 15%. On $40,000, sacrificing $2,000 makes you $115.00 better off a year, against $1,700.00 for $10,000 on $100,000. The low income super tax offset, which can refund contributions tax for lower earners, is not included here.
Does salary sacrifice affect HECS-HELP and the Medicare levy surcharge?
Yes. Salary sacrificed super is a reportable super contribution, which is added back when working out HECS-HELP repayment income and income for the Medicare levy surcharge. So sacrificing lowers your income tax but not your HECS-HELP repayment.