Salary Sacrifice Calculator
See what salary sacrificing into super saves in tax, and what it costs in take-home pay. Sacrificed amounts are taxed at 15% inside the fund instead of at your marginal rate, which is the entire point of the arrangement.
Your details
Tax saved a year
$1,700
- Taxable salary after sacrifice
- $90,000
- Income tax and levy saved
- $3,200
- Contributions tax at 15% inside the fund
- $1,500
- Net tax saved
- $1,700
- Take-home falls by
- $6,800
- Extra into super
- $8,500
Sacrificed amounts count towards your concessional contributions cap and can trigger Division 293 tax at higher incomes. This does not model either.
Worked examples, with the arithmetic.
The same sums the tool runs, on real figures. Every number below is computed by the tested engine from the published rates, so the prose and the tool can never disagree.
What does sacrificing $10,000 on a $100,000 salary save?
tax on $100,000 = $22,520.00 tax on $90,000 = $19,320.00 income tax saved = $3,200.00 contributions tax at 15% = $1,500.00 net saving = $1,700.00
You save $3,200.00 of income tax and the fund pays $1,500.00 of contributions tax, a net gain of $1,700.00. Take-home falls by $6,800, because the money is now in super rather than your account.
Why is the saving 17 cents in the dollar?
marginal rate 30c + 2% levy = 32c in the dollar contributions tax = 15c in the dollar difference = 17c saved per dollar sacrificed
In the 30c bracket each sacrificed dollar avoids 32c of income tax and levy and instead pays 15c inside the fund, a 17c saving. In the 37c bracket the saving is 24c. That gap is the entire mechanism, and Division 293 halves it above $250,000.
Is this accurate, and how does it work?
The method is published rather than described. Nothing here is a black box, and the limits are listed as plainly as the workings.
- 1Reduce the taxable salary. The sacrificed amount comes out before income tax, so your taxable income falls by the full amount sacrificed.
- 2Tax the contribution at 15% in the fund. Concessional contributions are taxed at 15% on the way in. The saving is the difference between your marginal rate plus the Medicare levy and that 15%.
- 3Show the cost as well as the saving. Take-home pay falls by more than the tax saved, because the money is now in super rather than in your account. Both figures are shown so the trade is visible.
The 2026-27 tax brackets this runs on.
Resident rates. Income is taxed in slices, so only the part inside a bracket pays that bracket rate. The Medicare levy of 2% applies on top of these.
| Taxable income | Rate on this slice |
|---|---|
| $0 to $18,200 | Nil |
| $18,201 to $45,000 | 15c per dollar |
| $45,001 to $135,000 | 30c per dollar |
| $135,001 to $190,000 | 37c per dollar |
| $190,001 and over | 45c per dollar |
What this does not cover.
- It does not check the concessional contributions cap, which is the main constraint on how much you can sacrifice.
- It does not model Division 293 tax, which reduces the benefit above $250,000 of income plus contributions.
- It does not model salary packaging of non-super benefits such as a novated lease, which is taxed under fringe benefits rules.
- It assumes your employer calculates the Superannuation Guarantee on the pre-sacrifice salary, which is now required but was not always the case.
Where these figures come from.
- ATO, Tax rates for Australian residents, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-08-13. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- ATO, Super guarantee rate, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-04-17. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
- ATO, Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-30. Retrieved 2026-09-02. Not yet published for 2026-27: this is the prior year’s figure carried forward and labelled as such, never estimated. It is corrected as soon as the ATO publishes.
Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.
Common questions.
How much tax does salary sacrifice save?
The difference between your marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare levy and the 15% contributions tax. In the 30c bracket that is a 17 percentage point saving on each sacrificed dollar. In the 37c bracket it is 24 points.
Is there a limit on salary sacrifice into super?
Yes. Sacrificed amounts count towards the concessional contributions cap along with your employer’s Superannuation Guarantee. Exceeding the cap means the excess is taxed at your marginal rate with an interest charge, so the cap matters. This page does not check it.
Does salary sacrifice reduce my HECS repayment?
No, and this catches people out. Reportable super contributions are added back when working out repayment income, so sacrificing into super does not reduce a compulsory study loan repayment.
Can salary sacrifice trigger Division 293 tax?
Yes. Division 293 adds another 15% on concessional contributions once income plus contributions passes $250,000, which halves the benefit at those incomes. The Division 293 page on this site calculates it.
Related pages.
- Division 293 CalculatorWork out Division 293 tax on concessional super contributions once income plus contributions passes the $250,000 threshold.
- Super Guarantee CalculatorWork out the superannuation your employer must pay on top of your wage at the 12% guarantee rate for 2026-27.
- HECS Repayment CalculatorWork out your compulsory HECS, HELP or STSL study loan repayment for 2026-27 on the marginal thresholds that replaced the old flat-rate tables.
- Income Tax CalculatorWork out income tax, the Medicare levy and the low income tax offset on any salary for 2026-27, with the bracket-by-bracket working shown.
Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.