Spouse Super Contributions Australia: Tax Offset and How Super Splitting Works

What Are Spouse Super Contributions?

A spouse super contribution is when you make an after-tax (non-concessional) payment directly into your partner's superannuation account. The ATO treats this as your spouse's contribution, not yours — it counts towards their non-concessional contributions cap, not yours.

The key benefit for you is a tax offset of up to $540 per year, calculated as 18% of the first $3,000 you contribute on their behalf. This isn't a deduction — it's a direct reduction in the tax you owe at assessment time, which makes it more valuable dollar-for-dollar than a deduction at the same amount.

You can contribute more than $3,000 to your spouse's super if you wish, but the tax offset only applies to the first $3,000. Above that, you're simply making an undeducted contribution on their behalf with no additional offset.

How the Offset Phases Out

The full $540 offset is available when your spouse's assessable income (including reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions) is below $37,000. Once their income exceeds $37,000, the offset reduces gradually. It cuts out entirely once their income reaches $40,000.

Spouse super contribution tax offset — FY2025-26

Spouse's Income	Your Contribution	Tax Offset
$0 – $37,000	$3,000	$540 (full)
$38,000	$3,000	$360
$39,000	$3,000	$180
$40,000+	Any amount	$0

Even when the offset is partial, contributing to your spouse's super still builds their retirement balance — it just means the tax incentive disappears above $40,000.

Who Is Eligible?

To claim the spouse contributions tax offset, both you and your spouse must meet the following conditions:

• Your spouse must be under 75 years of age at the time you make the contribution
• They must be an Australian resident
• They must not be living separately and permanently apart from you
• Their total super balance on 30 June of the previous financial year must be below $2 million (the general transfer balance cap for FY2025-26)
• The contributions you make must not be deductible to you (that is, they must be after-tax dollars)
• Your spouse must not have exceeded their non-concessional contributions cap ($120,000 in FY2025-26) for the year

For the purposes of this offset, your "spouse" includes a legally married partner or a de facto partner — opposite-sex or same-sex — as long as the relationship is genuine and ongoing.

A Worked Example

Tom earns $110,000 and his partner Sarah works part-time, earning $30,000 per year. Tom contributes $3,000 from his savings into Sarah's super fund. Because Sarah's income is below $37,000, Tom qualifies for the full $540 tax offset. His effective out-of-pocket cost for the $3,000 contribution is only $2,460 once his tax return is processed. Sarah's super fund receives the full $3,000 — plus it continues to compound over the years until her retirement.

If Tom does this every year for 20 years, he puts $60,000 into Sarah's super at a net cost of just $49,200 (assuming the offset stays at $540 throughout). At a 7% annual return, that $60,000 in contributions could grow to well over $120,000 by the time Sarah reaches retirement age.

Use CalcPhi's Super Balance Calculator to model how regular contributions grow over time with compound returns. It takes less than a minute and shows your projected retirement balance year by year.

What Is Super Contributions Splitting?

Super contributions splitting is a different (and often overlooked) strategy. Instead of contributing to your spouse's fund directly, you split a portion of your own concessional contributions — your employer's super guarantee payments and any salary sacrifice you've made — and transfer them into your spouse's super account.

Think of it as redirecting a slice of your own super to your partner's account. You've already made the contributions and claimed any available deductions; now you're moving some of those dollars across to help balance the household's total super.

How the Split Works

You can split up to 85% of your concessional contributions for a given financial year, subject to the annual concessional contributions cap ($30,000 in FY2025-26). The 85% figure accounts for the 15% contributions tax that's already been deducted inside the super fund — so you're splitting the after-tax amount that's actually sitting in your account.

Importantly, splitting doesn't give you any additional tax deduction. You've already received the tax benefit on the concessional contributions themselves. The purpose of splitting is to equalise balances between partners — which has real benefits for retirement income planning, transfer balance cap management, and estate planning.

The timing is also worth noting: you can only apply to split your contributions in the financial year after the contributions were made. So to split contributions you made in FY2025-26, you would need to apply between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. To apply, complete ATO Form NAT 15237 (Superannuation Contributions Splitting Application) and submit it to your super fund — not to the ATO.

Who Can Use Super Splitting?

Your spouse must be under their preservation age (60 for anyone born after 30 June 1964), or between preservation age and 65 and not yet retired. Not all super funds offer contributions splitting, so check with your fund first.

A Worked Example

David earns $150,000 and makes salary sacrifice contributions of $18,000 per year on top of his employer's SG. His total concessional contributions for FY2025-26 are $30,000 (the cap). His wife Michelle earns $55,000 and has a much smaller super balance.

David applies to split 85% of his concessional contributions — that's $25,500 — into Michelle's account. Michelle's super balance gets a meaningful boost, and the couple moves closer to an even split of retirement assets. David's own super balance is reduced by $25,500, but the couple's combined wealth is unchanged — it's just distributed more evenly.

Use CalcPhi's Salary Sacrifice Calculator to see your tax savings and the long-term impact on your super balance.

Spouse Contributions vs Super Splitting: Which One Should You Use?

These two strategies are not mutually exclusive, and they serve slightly different purposes.

Use spouse contributions (with the tax offset) when your partner earns under $40,000 and you want a direct tax incentive today. You're contributing after-tax money from your own savings into their fund, and in return you receive up to $540 off your tax bill.

Use super splitting when your partner earns more than $40,000 (so no offset is available) but you still want to gradually equalise your super balances over time. It's also useful if your own super is growing very quickly and you want to reduce the risk of breaching the transfer balance cap ($2 million in FY2025-26) in future.

Many couples do both: making annual spouse contributions to capture the tax offset, while also splitting concessional contributions each year to rebalance the long-term picture.

Why Balancing Super Matters More Than You Think

Beyond the immediate tax offset, equalising super balances between partners has three longer-term benefits that are easy to overlook.

Transfer balance cap: When you retire and move your super into a tax-free pension phase, there's a cap on how much you can transfer — $2 million in FY2025-26, rising to $2.1 million from 1 July 2026. If one partner has a very large balance and the other has very little, the high-balance partner can't simply transfer extra funds across after retirement. Equalising balances before retirement means the couple can maximise the amount they put into tax-free pension phase collectively.

Age Pension eligibility: Super belongs to the individual, not the couple, for superannuation purposes. But under the Centrelink income and assets tests for the Age Pension, both partners' super balances are assessed together once the older partner reaches Age Pension age. A more even split doesn't change this directly, but it can influence how and when each partner accesses their super, which in turn affects overall tax efficiency during the drawdown years.

Estate planning: A super balance does not automatically form part of your estate when you die. Directing super to a spouse after death generally receives preferential tax treatment, but having both partners accumulate meaningful balances gives more flexibility in estate planning.

To see how your combined projected balances look at retirement, spend a few minutes with CalcPhi's Super Balance Calculator — you can run separate scenarios for each partner and compare the totals side by side.

Step-by-Step: How to Make a Spouse Super Contribution

Making a spouse contribution is simpler than most people expect. Here's how it works in practice.

First, get your spouse's super fund details — specifically their fund name, BSB or BPAY details, and their member account number. Second, transfer the funds from your own bank account directly to your spouse's super fund — most funds accept contributions via BPAY or direct deposit. Third, keep a record of the payment, including the date, amount, and your spouse's fund details. Fourth, when you lodge your own tax return for the year, complete question T3 (Superannuation contributions on behalf of your spouse) in the Supplementary Tax Return to claim your offset. You'll need to enter your spouse's assessable income and their reportable super contributions so the ATO can calculate the correct offset amount.

The offset is refundable in the sense that it reduces your tax liability — but if your tax bill for the year is less than $540, the unused portion is not paid out as a cash refund. You'll need to have at least $540 of tax owing to fully use the offset.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The most common error is making spouse contributions to your own fund and expecting to split them — that's not how it works. Splitting only applies to concessional contributions (employer SG and salary sacrifice). After-tax contributions, including spouse contributions you make from personal savings, cannot be split under the contributions-splitting rules.

Another mistake is missing the timing window for super splitting. Applications must be submitted in the financial year after the contributions were made, so if you wait too long you lose the opportunity for that year entirely.

Finally, watch your spouse's non-concessional contributions cap. All contributions you make to their super — whether as spouse contributions or through other means — count toward their $120,000 annual NCC cap. Exceeding it triggers significant tax penalties.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How much is the spouse super contribution tax offset in Australia?

  The maximum tax offset is $540 per year, equal to 18% of the first $3,000 you contribute to your spouse's super. The full offset is available when your spouse's assessable income is below $37,000. It phases out between $37,000 and $40,000 and disappears entirely above $40,000.

• Can I claim the offset if my spouse earns nothing?

  Yes — a spouse with zero income fully qualifies for the offset. Contributing $3,000 to their super earns you the maximum $540 offset when you lodge your tax return. It's one of the most straightforward tax offsets available to Australian couples, especially when one partner is on parental leave or not working.

• Does super splitting reduce my taxable income?

  No. Super splitting does not provide an additional tax deduction. The tax benefit was already received when the concessional contributions were made (at the 15% contributions tax rate instead of your marginal rate). Splitting is a balance-equalisation strategy, not a new tax minimisation tool.

• Can I make spouse contributions if my partner is over 65?

  For contributions made from 1 July 2020 onwards, your spouse must be under 75 for you to claim the tax offset. However, from age 67 to 74, your spouse may also need to meet the work test (having worked at least 40 hours in any 30-day period in the financial year) unless they qualify as a work-test exempt individual. Check with your partner's super fund directly to confirm whether they can accept contributions.

• What's the difference between spouse contributions and super splitting?

  Spouse contributions are after-tax payments you make into your partner's super fund from your own savings — you may receive a tax offset in return. Super splitting involves moving a portion of your own concessional contributions (already made to your own fund) into your spouse's fund — no additional tax offset applies, but it helps equalise balances over time.

• Can self-employed people use these strategies?

  Absolutely. Self-employed Australians can make concessional contributions (personal contributions they claim as a tax deduction) and then apply to split those contributions to their spouse's account. They can also make after-tax spouse contributions in the same way as any other taxpayer and claim the offset if their partner's income is under $40,000.