Here are five super strategies that could help you save tax before end of financial year.

Saving on tax with super

Want to help boost your retirement savings while potentially saving on tax?

Here are five smart super strategies to consider before the end of financial year. Remember super is for your retirement. Any contributions made are preserved and generally not accessible until retirement.

With all super strategies, there is specific eligibility criteria. To see if you’re eligible, check the Australian Taxation Office.

1. Add to your super – and claim a tax deduction

If you contribute some of your after-tax income or savings into super, you may be eligible to claim a tax deduction. This means you’ll reduce your taxable income for this financial year and potentially pay less tax.

How it works

The super contribution is generally taxed at up to 15% in your super fund (or up to 30% if you earn $250,000 pa from certain sources).

Depending on your circumstances, this may be a lower rate than your personal tax rate, which can be up to 47% (including the Medicare Levy) – so you could save up to 32%.

It’s important to note that there are limits on the amount of personal contributions you can claim as a tax deduction each financial year. The cap—which includes both employer and personal contributions—is $30,000 for the 2025-26 financial year. If you exceed this cap, you may be subject to additional tax.

You may be eligible to contribute more than cap without penalty if your total super balance at 30 June 2025 is less than $500,000 and you didn’t use all your concessional caps in previous financial years. This is called carry forward concessional contributions. If you’re eligible, you can use any unused concessional cap amounts from the last five financial years in addition to the $30,000 cap.

Note: to claim a tax deduction, you need to notify your super fund in writing and lodge a ‘Notice of intent’ form within the required timeframes. You must also receive an acknowledgement from them.

Have questions? Start the conversation with one of our friendly Financial Planners.

2. Get more from your salary or a bonus

If you’re an employee, you may be able to arrange for your employer to direct some of your before-tax salary, or a bonus, into your super as a salary sacrifice contribution.

Potentially you’ll pay less tax on this money than if you received it as take-home pay. This is because you’ll only be charged 15% tax rather than your personal tax rate which could be up to 47% (including Medicare Levy). You may pay an additional 15% tax on all or part of your contribution if your income from certain sources is more than $250,000 per annum.

How it works

Ask your employer if they offer salary sacrifice. If they do, it can be a great way to help grow your super in a tax-effective way.

Note: salary sacrifice amounts count towards your concessional contribution cap which is $30,000 for the 2025-26 financial year—along with any super contributions from your employer and personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction.

You may be eligible to contribute more than the cap without penalty if your total super balance at 30 June 2025 is less than $500,000 and you didn’t use all of your concessional caps in previous years.

Ensure your salary sacrifice arrangement is in writing and consider the impact to your take home pay as well as any other employment entitlements.

3. Boost your spouse’s super and reduce your tax

If your spouse isn’t working or earns a low income, you may consider making an after-tax contribution into their super.

This strategy could potentially benefit both of you as you could qualify for a tax offset of up to $540.

How it works

You may be able to get the full tax offset if you contribute $3,000 and your spouse earns $37,000 or less per year.

The tax offset reduces if you contribute less than $3,000 and/or your spouse earns more than $37,000. Your entitlement to the tax offset is not available if your spouse earns $40,000 or more.

As this contribution counts towards your spouse’s non-concessional contribution cap it is important to ensure that it will not exceed your spouse's cap. See ‘Converting your savings into super savings – how it works’ for additional information on the non-concessional contribution cap.

4. Get a super top-up from the Government

If you earn less than $62,488 per year and earn at least 10% from your job or a business, you could consider making an after-tax super contribution. If you do, the government may make a ‘co-contribution’ of up to $500 into your super account.

How it works

The maximum co-contribution of $500 per year is available if you contribute $1,000 and earn $47,488 or less. You may receive a lower amount if you contribute less than $1,000 and/or earn between $47,488 and $62,488 per year.

As this contribution you make counts towards your non-concessional contribution cap, ensure you are able to make the contribution without exceeding your cap. See ‘Converting your savings into super savings – how it works’ for additional information on the non-concessional contribution cap.

5. Convert your savings into super savings

Another way to invest more in your super is by making an additional contribution with some of your after-tax income or savings.

Although these contributions don’t reduce your taxable income for the year, you can still benefit from the low tax rate of up to 15% that’s paid in super on investment earnings.

This tax rate may be lower than what you’d pay if you held the money in other investments outside super.

How it works

Before you consider this strategy, make sure you’ll stay under your non-concessional contribution cap— which is $120,000 for 2025-26 financial year. If you meet certain conditions, you may be able to ‘bring-forward’ non-concessional contribution limits from future years, meaning that your cap may be up to $360,000.

Also, to use this strategy in the current financial year, your total super balance must have been under certain limits. To make up to $120,000, your total super balance must have been below $2.0 million on 30 June 2025 to make a non-concessional contribution and below $1.76 million to use the bring forward rule contributing up to $360,000 (in addition to meeting the other eligibility rules).

Penalties apply if you exceed the cap. You can check your available cap space by logging in to your myGov account.

The information in this article is current as at July 2025 and may be subject to change.

This article is issued by Bridges Financial Services Pty Ltd ABN 60 003 474 977 | AFSL 240837. ASX Participant.  Part of the Insignia Financial Group.  The information in this article is of a general nature only and does not take into account your financial situation, needs and objectives. Before making any decision based on this information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your own circumstances or seek advice from a Financial Planner and seek tax advice from a registered tax agent. Information reflects our understanding of existing legislation, proposed legislation, rulings etc as at July 2025, and may be subject to change. While it is believed the information is accurate and reliable, this is not guaranteed in any way. Whilst care has been taken in preparing the content, no liability is accepted for any errors or omissions in this article, and/or losses or liabilities arising from any reliance on this article.