Maximum Superannuation Contribution Base
This is the sum, set by the Federal Government each year, which is the maximum limit on an employee's earnings base for each quarter of a financial year.
For 2025/26 the maximum superannuation contribution base is $62,500 per quarter (equivalent to $250,000 for the year).
An employer does not have to pay super guarantee for the part of earnings above this limit.
This means that the maximum super guarantee amount an employer is required to contribute is the equivalent of 12% of $62,500 per quarter, which works out to be a contribution of $7,500 per quarter.
Super Transfer Balance Cap
The transfer balance cap is a rule that limits how much superannuation you can transfer from your accumulation phase to the tax-free retirement phrase.
Broadly, if you retire with a super balance greater than the general transfer balance cap (currently $2 million) then the excess amount will not enjoy the same tax-free earnings as normal super income streams. The cap includes all your retirement accounts if you have more than one. The transfer balance cap increased to $2 million on 1 July 2025 for those people that started their retirement income stream on or after 1 July 2025.
From that date the transfer balance cap will vary for each person from $1.6 to $2 million, depending on what it was when they started their first retirement phase income stream and how much of the transfer balance cap they have used. If you exceed the transfer balance cap while you are still working you will not be eligible for the government co-contribution, the tax offset for spouse contributions and the after-tax contributions cap and the two or three year bring-forward period.