Concessional contributions (CCs) are super contributions that are sometimes referred to as ‘pre-tax’ contributions. They include:

• contributions from an employer (e.g superannuation guarantee and salary sacrifice).
  
• personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction, and
  
• certain other amounts, see the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for more information.
  

A cap of $27,500 applies to CCs in the 2021/22 financial year. If you have more than one fund, total CCs made to all funds will be added up and count towards the CC cap. If you haven’t used up your annual CC cap each financial year since 1 July 2018, you may be able to make larger contributions in a future financial year (see below) by utilising unused CCs that have been carried forward.

The ATO will inform you if you have exceeded your CC cap. Following notification from the ATO, you can withdraw up to 85% of any excess CCs from your super. If you leave the excess in your fund, the full amount of the excess will also count towards your non-concessional contribution cap.

Additional tax is also payable on excess CCs. All contributions exceeding the CC cap will be included in your assessable income for the year and will be taxed at your marginal tax rate (less a 15% tax offset to reflect the tax paid on these contributions within your super fund) and an interest charge apply.

If you make CCs of less than the annual cap, you can accrue these unused amounts and may be eligible to make catch-up contributions in subsequent financial years. To be eligible to make catch-up CCs, your total super balance at the prior 30 June must be below $500,000. Other eligibility rules apply.