Payday Super and the $32,500 Cap: Relief for the June Quarter Double-Up Is in a Bill

Why 2026-27 can count five quarters

Payday super started on 1 July 2026. Employers now pay super guarantee within 7 business days of each payday. Under the old quarterly system, super for April to June 2026 was due by 28 July 2026, so many employers paid it in July.

Concessional contributions count in the financial year they are made, whatever period they relate to. So June quarter super paid in July counts toward 2026-27, and so does every payday contribution from July 2026 to June 2027. The explanatory memorandum calls this an effective overlap and says it raises the risk of going over the cap, particularly for people with higher employer contributions.

With a steady salary and the 12% super guarantee in both years, five quarters of super reaches the $32,500 cap at a salary of about $216,667. Below that, the double-up stays under the cap on its own. If your employer paid the June quarter before 30 June 2026, it counted in 2025-26 and there is no double-up.

What the bill does

Schedule 6 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 3) Bill 2026 adds a transitional rule for 2026-27 only. Covered June quarter contributions are disregarded when working out your concessional contributions for that year, but only to the extent needed to stop you exceeding the basic cap.

Three details matter. The relief is automatic: unlike the ATO's existing discretion to disregard contributions, you do not have to prove special circumstances or apply. It is measured against the basic cap, so June quarter amounts above the cap are disregarded rather than eating into unused cap carried forward from the previous five years. And if the ATO applies it wrongly, the normal objection rights apply.

The memorandum is silent on Division 293 tax, so we are not assuming the relief changes that test either way.

Worked example

Take a salary of $240,000 in both 2025-26 and 2026-27, with super guarantee at 12% on all of it. That sits under the 2025-26 quarterly maximum contribution base of $62,500 and the 2026-27 annual base of $270,830. The employer paid the June 2026 quarter in July.

Without salary sacrifice, the bill disregards $3,500 of the $7,200 June quarter amount and lands exactly on the cap. With $5,000 sacrificed, the whole $7,200 is disregarded and the person is still $1,300 over, because the relief never reaches the sacrificed dollars.

Salary sacrifice is not covered

The memorandum gives the reason directly: the relief is for mandatory employer contributions, and people who salary sacrifice can adjust the timing and amount of what they sacrifice to stay under the cap. That puts the job on you. If your June quarter super arrived in July and you sacrifice on top, count the June quarter amount in your 2026-27 total before you set the sacrifice.

The salary sacrifice calculator shows what a sacrifice costs in take-home pay and how employer super shares the $32,500 cap with it. The super guarantee calculator works out the employer side on any pay, and the PAYG calculator shows the tax on the salary that is left.

Not law yet: where the bill is

The bill was introduced and read a first time in the House of Representatives on 14 October 2026, and the second reading was moved the same day. On 15 October it was referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, with a report due 13 November 2026. The Parliament page still lists it as before the House, with no amendments circulated.

Schedule 6 commences on the first 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October after Royal Assent, and applies to working out concessional contributions for 2026-27. The rest of the bill deals with a minimum tax on discretionary trusts and capital gains changes, which are outside what this site covers. We will update this post when the committee reports.

What to do now

• Check when your June quarter super landed. Your fund statement or the super section of myGov shows the date each contribution was received.
• If you salary sacrifice, plan for the relief not applying to it. Count the June quarter amount in your 2026-27 total and adjust the sacrifice if needed.
• If you only get employer super, there is nothing to apply for. If the bill passes, the relief is automatic.
• Employers: nothing in the bill changes when super is due. The 7 business day rule and the catch-up line for the first quarter are in payday super's first quarter and payday super, one month in.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Parliament and ATO pages fetched 19 October 2026.

• Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 3) Bill 2026, bill home page (r7554, read 19 October 2026). Status "Before Reps", introduced 14 October 2026, referred 15 October to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, report due 13 November 2026.
• Explanatory memorandum, Chapter 6: transitional relief for excess concessional contributions due to Payday Superannuation. Paras 6.1 to 6.27: the covered contributions, the basic cap limit, the salary sacrifice exclusion, automatic operation and commencement.
• Second reading speech, Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 3) Bill 2026 (14 October 2026). The Treasurer describes the final schedule as relief for excess super contributions in the first year of payday super.
• Super guarantee (ATO, last updated 17 April 2026). The 12% rate for 2025-26 and 2026-27, the $62,500 quarterly maximum contribution base for 2025-26 and the $270,830 annual base for 2026-27.

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