If you earn less than $58,445 per year, the government could pay up to 50 cents for every dollar of after-tax contributions you add to your super, up to a total of $500 each financial year. That’s a great boost for your retirement!
It’s SUPER simple, you don’t really have to do anything. When you lodge your tax return, the ATO will work out if you're eligible. As long as we have your tax file number, the ATO will pay the contribution directly into your super account.
The amount of government co-contribution you could get depends on your income plus the amount you contribute for that financial year. To make it simple, we’ve put examples of your minimum after-tax contribution and the maximum government co-contribution in the table below for each salary.
If you want to get a better estimate of what you could receive, head over to the ATO Super co-contributions calculator.
To check if you're eligible for a government super co-contribution, here are some of the criteria that you need to meet:
You need to have earned less than $58,455 in the 2023-24 financial year and lodged a tax return.
You need to have made an after-tax contribution into your super during the relevant financial year. It's important to note that this contribution should not exceed your after-tax contributions cap of $110,000 per financial year, and you shouldn't have claimed a deduction for any of it.
You need to be under 71 years old at the end of the relevant financial year and a permanent Australian resident (with some exceptions for New Zealand citizens and certain people holding temporary visas).
Your total superannuation balance should be less than the general transfer balance cap for the previous financial year which is $1.7million (2022-23 financial year)
If you meet all the criteria above and want to know more about how the ATO calculates and pays government co-contributions, you can visit their website for additional information.
Page last updated 13 December 2023
