How much is the spouse super contribution tax offset?

You receive a tax offset of 18% of the contributions you make to your spouse's super, up to a maximum contribution of $3,000. The maximum offset is $540 ($3,000 × 18%). The offset phases out when your spouse earns between $37,000 and $40,000.

What income qualifies for the spouse super offset?

Your spouse must earn less than $40,000 in total income, including taxable income, reportable fringe benefits and net investment losses. The full offset is available if your spouse earns $37,000 or less.

Can I claim both the spouse offset and the co-contribution?

Yes — these are two separate benefits. You claim the spouse offset on your tax return for contributions you make to your spouse's super. Separately, your spouse may be eligible for the government co-contribution if they make their own after-tax contributions and meet the income test.

Does the contribution count toward my spouse's cap?

Yes — your contribution is a non-concessional contribution for your spouse. It counts toward their non-concessional contributions cap ($130,000 for 2026–27). Check that the contribution does not cause your spouse to exceed their cap.

Where do I claim the spouse super offset?

You claim the offset on your own individual tax return at item T3 (Superannuation contributions on behalf of your spouse). Your super fund will provide a receipt showing the contribution was made, and it is the record the ATO looks for if the offset is queried.

Spouse Super Contribution Tax Offset Calculator

Contribute to your spouse's super and get up to $540 back as a tax offset. Available when your spouse earns under $40,000. 2026–27 ATO thresholds.

Spouse Income & Your Contribution

Spouse's total income

Taxable income + reportable fringe benefits + net investment losses

$0$37,000 lower$40,000 upper

Full offset available — maximum $540

Your contribution into spouse's super

After-tax contribution from your own funds (not salary sacrifice)

Eligibility Requirements

Spouse income below $40,000 (incl. reportable amounts)

Contribution made from your after-tax income (not salary sacrifice)

Both spouses are Australian residents for tax purposes

Spouse is under 75 at the time of contribution

Spouse's super fund can accept contributions

You are in a genuine couple relationship (married or de facto)

Maximum Tax Offset!

Tax offset you receive

$540

Your contribution

$3,000

Net cost to you

$2,460

Eligible contribution

$3,000

Effective return

18.0%

How It's Calculated

Max eligible contribution$3,000

Eligible contribution$3,000

Offset rate18%

Tax offset$540

How to Use This Calculator

1Enter your spouse's total income (taxable income + reportable amounts)
2Enter the amount you plan to contribute into your spouse's super
3See your tax offset and the optimal contribution to maximise it

What Is the Spouse Super Contribution Offset?

If you contribute to your spouse's superannuation from your after-tax income, you may be entitled to a tax offset of up to $540 per year. The offset is 18% of the contribution, with a maximum eligible contribution of $3,000.

The offset is only available when your spouse's income is below $40,000. It phases out as income rises above $37,000.

This is a tax offset (not a deduction) — it reduces your tax payable dollar-for-dollar. If the offset exceeds your tax, the excess is not refunded.

Key Things to Know

After-tax contributions only: Only non-concessional (after-tax) contributions from your own funds qualify. Salary sacrifice to your own super does not count.
Income definition: Your spouse's income includes taxable income, reportable fringe benefits, reportable employer super and total net investment losses. The cutoff is $40,000.
Tax offset vs deduction: The spouse offset reduces your tax payable directly — it is more valuable than a deduction because it reduces tax dollar for dollar rather than reducing taxable income.
Super caps still apply: Your contribution to your spouse's super counts toward their non-concessional contributions cap ($130,000 for 2026–27). Make sure the contribution does not cause your spouse to exceed their cap.
Age limits: Your spouse must be under 75 at the time of contribution. You must both be Australian residents.

How the rules work

•The offset is 18% of the contribution up to $3,000, so a contribution of $3,000 produces the maximum offset of $540 where your spouse earns $37,000 or less. Above that income the offset phases down.
•The offset is separate from the government co-contribution. Where a spouse makes their own after-tax contributions and meets the income and work tests, up to $500 of co-contribution can apply as well.
•Contribution splitting is a different mechanism again: up to 85 per cent of concessional contributions from one year can be transferred to a spouse's account, using the fund's own form and its own deadlines. It moves the balance between accounts rather than creating an offset.
•Money contributed to super is preserved until preservation age and a condition of release is met, and fund earnings are taxed at the 15% super rate. Both differ from an account you can withdraw from at any time.
•The offset is claimed on your own return at item T3 (Superannuation contributions on behalf of your spouse).

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources

ATO: Spouse contribution tax offset

Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.

About this calculator

This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.

What can move this result

It only knows the figures you type in. Offsets, deductions, prior-year losses, other income, your partner's position and anything you have not entered are not in the result, and any of them can move it a long way.
Rates and thresholds change, sometimes mid-year and occasionally with retrospective effect. Each calculator shows the financial year and the verification date it is working from — outside that year the result is wrong rather than approximate.
Assumptions are set to a reasonable default and every non-statutory one can be changed. Defaults are not predictions, and a small change to a growth or inflation assumption compounds into a large change in a long projection.
Where a result reaches two or more years into the future it is shown in today's dollars as well as future dollars, because a future-dollar figure overstates what the money will actually buy.
It is a generic calculator. It is not built around any particular product, it does not compare the market, and it cannot tell you whether a product is suitable for you.

This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.

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About this calculator

What can move this result

It only knows the figures you type in. Offsets, deductions, prior-year losses, other income, your partner's position and anything you have not entered are not in the result, and any of them can move it a long way.
Rates and thresholds change, sometimes mid-year and occasionally with retrospective effect. Each calculator shows the financial year and the verification date it is working from — outside that year the result is wrong rather than approximate.
Assumptions are set to a reasonable default and every non-statutory one can be changed. Defaults are not predictions, and a small change to a growth or inflation assumption compounds into a large change in a long projection.
Where a result reaches two or more years into the future it is shown in today's dollars as well as future dollars, because a future-dollar figure overstates what the money will actually buy.
It is a generic calculator. It is not built around any particular product, it does not compare the market, and it cannot tell you whether a product is suitable for you.