The bring-forward rule lets someone under 75 put up to $390,000 into superannuation in a single year, after tax, in the 2026-27 financial year.
It is also the rule most often triggered by accident. You do not apply for it, you do not elect into it, and there is no form. It starts the moment your after-tax contributions exceed the annual cap by a single dollar, and once it starts you are locked into a three year arrangement at whatever amount applied in that first year, regardless of what happens to the caps afterwards.
Used deliberately it is one of the most powerful tools available for getting money into a low tax environment before retirement. Used accidentally it can cost people the ability to contribute for two more years, or produce an excess contributions determination.
This guide covers how much you can contribute, the balance test that decides it, and the five ways people get caught.
The basics
Non-concessional contributions are after-tax amounts you put into super. No contributions tax applies going in, because the money has already been taxed, and there is an annual cap on how much you can add.
The bring-forward rule lets you use up to three years of that annual cap in a single financial year, by borrowing against the next one or two years. You are not getting extra cap space. You are using future space early, and those future years are then unavailable.
The 2026-27 numbers
Two things determine what you can contribute: your age, and your total super balance at 30 June of the previous financial year.
| Total super balance at 30 June 2026 | Maximum non-concessional contribution | Bring-forward period |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1.84 million | $390,000 | 3 years |
| $1.84 million to under $1.97 million | $260,000 | 2 years |
| $1.97 million to under $2.1 million | $130,000 | No bring-forward available |
| $2.1 million or more | Nil | Not available |
The annual non-concessional cap for 2026-27 is $130,000, and $2.1 million is the general transfer balance cap. These thresholds rose from 1 July 2026, which means some people who were locked out entirely in the previous year can contribute again. Our guides on the transfer balance cap increase and the 1 July 2026 super changes set out what else moved.
Because the test is applied at the previous 30 June, and because it is a hard cut-off rather than a sliding scale, knowing your total super balance is the first step in any of this, not the last.
It triggers automatically
This is the mechanic that matters most and the one least understood.
There is no election. The bring-forward arrangement begins the moment your non-concessional contributions in a financial year exceed the annual cap. Contribute $130,001 in 2026-27 and you have triggered a three year bring-forward period, whether or not you meant to and whether or not you intend to use the rest of it.
Once triggered, the period runs for its full term. You have the remainder of it to use the total amount, and you cannot start a new arrangement until the existing one ends.
The practical warning is simple. If you do not want to trigger it, stay at or under the annual cap. And before making any large after-tax contribution, check whether you already triggered an arrangement in either of the two previous financial years, because people routinely forget.
The age rules
You are eligible to use the bring-forward arrangement in a financial year if you are under 75 at any time during that year. If you are 75 or older for the whole year, it is not available.
There is a hard deadline attached. Contributions must be received by your fund no later than 28 days after the end of the month in which you turn 75. Some funds impose stricter internal cut-offs, so check with yours rather than relying on the statutory limit.
The work test does not apply to non-concessional contributions, so this is available to retirees. It does still apply if you want to claim a deduction for a personal contribution between 67 and 75, which is a different type of contribution with a different cap. Our guide on salary sacrifice versus personal deductible contributions covers that side.
Five traps
1. Triggering it without meaning to
A contribution one dollar over the annual cap starts the clock. So does a series of smaller contributions that add up past it, which is how it usually happens: a spouse contribution here, a rollover of an after-tax amount there, an in-specie transfer of shares valued at market rather than at what you paid for them.
That last one catches people. An off-market transfer of listed shares into a self managed fund is a contribution valued at the market value on the day, not at your cost base, and our guide on off market transfers into super explains how that arithmetic works.
2. The cap is locked at the trigger year amount
Once you trigger a bring-forward arrangement, your total cap for the period is fixed at the amount that applied in that first year. Later indexation of the annual cap does not increase it.
Someone who triggered a three year arrangement in an earlier year at a lower cap does not get topped up because the caps have since risen. That is a genuine argument for thinking carefully about the timing of a large contribution, particularly in a year where indexation is expected.
3. The balance test applies again every year
This is the trap that surprises even well informed people.
Triggering a three year arrangement does not guarantee you can use it. In each subsequent year of the period, you can only make further contributions if your total super balance at the previous 30 June was below the general transfer balance cap.
So someone who contributes $200,000 of a $390,000 arrangement in year one, and whose balance then grows past $2.1 million by the following 30 June, cannot contribute the remaining $190,000 in year two. The arrangement is still running, but the balance test has closed the door.
Strong investment returns can therefore cost you contribution capacity. It is a good reason to make the contributions earlier in the period rather than leaving them until the third year.
4. Timing at 30 June
A contribution counts in the year the fund receives it, not the year you send it. A transfer made on 29 June that lands on 2 July falls in the wrong year and can cause either a wasted year or an unintended trigger.
Leave a working buffer, particularly with cheques, BPAY, and anything involving a transfer between institutions.
5. Forgetting what already counts
Non-concessional contributions include personal after-tax contributions, spouse contributions made for you, and excess concessional contributions that are not released. Check the full picture before making a large contribution rather than assuming your intended amount is the only thing counting.
What does not count towards the cap
Several significant contribution types sit outside the non-concessional cap entirely, which means they can be used alongside a bring-forward arrangement rather than competing with it:
- Downsizer contributions, which have their own rules and no upper age limit. Our guide on downsizer contributions covers the eligibility.
- Contributions under the small business CGT cap, which can allow substantially larger amounts into super following a business sale. Our guide on planning around a business exit deals with the sequencing.
- Personal injury or structured settlement contributions, subject to strict conditions and timeframes.
Someone selling a business and downsizing in the same period can potentially use all three alongside a bring-forward arrangement. That is a large planning opportunity and one that needs to be sequenced properly rather than improvised.
If you go over
Exceeding the cap is not catastrophic, but it does need dealing with.
The ATO issues a determination and you generally choose between two paths. You can elect to release the excess amount plus a proportion of associated earnings from your fund, with those earnings taxed at your marginal rate with an offset for tax already paid. Or you can leave the excess in the fund, in which case it is taxed at the top marginal rate.
Releasing is usually the better outcome, but the election has deadlines and the calculation is not intuitive. This is a point to involve your accountant rather than working through it alone.
Where the rule genuinely earns its keep
- An inheritance or a large asset sale, where a lump sum can be moved into a 15 per cent or nil tax environment rather than sitting in a personally taxed portfolio. Our guide on planning for a windfall covers the wider decisions.
- The final decade before retirement, where someone with assets outside super wants them inside it before starting a pension.
- A recontribution strategy, where amounts are withdrawn and recontributed to convert taxable components into tax-free components, reducing the tax paid by adult children on a death benefit. That strategy generally depends on the bring-forward rule to move meaningful amounts, and our guide on the recontribution strategy explains it.
- Equalising balances between spouses, discussed below.
- Before a threshold moves against you, where a balance is approaching a point that will reduce or eliminate future capacity.
The counterweight is that money in super is preserved and subject to rules that change. Our guide on investing inside or outside super sets out the trade-off, and anyone with a large balance should also read our guide on Division 296 before adding to it.
Couples: the opportunity people miss
The caps apply per person, and the balance test is applied per person. A couple with very uneven balances is therefore in a different position from a couple with the same total split evenly.
Where one partner is approaching or above $2.1 million and the other has considerably less, the lower balance partner may have full bring-forward capacity while the higher balance partner has none. Directing contributions to the lower balance spouse can preserve capacity, and over time helps both partners make better use of their own transfer balance caps in retirement.
Contribution splitting and spouse contributions are the other levers here, and they work on different timeframes, so the sequence matters.
Where Professional Advice Adds Value
Most of this rule is arithmetic, and the arithmetic is not the hard part. What is difficult is the sequencing, because the decisions interact.
At Money Path the work usually involves establishing your actual total super balance at the relevant 30 June rather than the current figure people tend to quote, then checking whether a bring-forward arrangement was already triggered in either of the previous two years, which is the single most common thing people have forgotten. From there it is a question of what amount to contribute in which year, given that the cap locks at the trigger year and that strong returns can close the balance test on you before you use the full amount.
Where a business sale, a downsizer contribution and a bring-forward arrangement are all in play, the sequencing across financial years is worth real money and is easy to get wrong by a month. It also sits alongside the concessional side, where carry forward concessional contributions operate under a separate set of rules and can be used in the same year. The two are frequently confused, and using both deliberately is often better than using either one heavily.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I contribute under the bring-forward rule in 2026-27?
Up to $390,000 if your total super balance at 30 June 2026 was below $1.84 million, $260,000 if it was between $1.84 million and $1.97 million, and the standard annual cap of $130,000 between $1.97 million and $2.1 million. At $2.1 million or above your non-concessional cap is nil.
Do I have to apply to use the bring-forward rule?
No. It triggers automatically the moment your non-concessional contributions exceed the annual cap in a financial year. There is no form and no election, which is why people trigger it without intending to. Once triggered, the arrangement runs for its full term and you cannot start a new one until it ends.
What age can I use the bring-forward rule until?
You can use it in a financial year if you are under 75 at any time during that year. Contributions must be received by your fund no later than 28 days after the end of the month in which you turn 75, and some funds apply earlier cut-offs. No work test applies to non-concessional contributions.
Does my cap increase if the annual cap is indexed during my bring-forward period?
No. Once an arrangement is triggered, your total cap for the period is fixed at the amount that applied in the trigger year. Later indexation does not increase it, which is one reason the timing of a large contribution matters.
Can my balance growing stop me using the rest of my bring-forward amount?
Yes. In each later year of the period you can only contribute if your total super balance at the previous 30 June was below the general transfer balance cap. If strong returns push your balance to or above that figure, you cannot use the remaining amount that year even though the arrangement is still running. Contributing earlier in the period reduces that risk.
Do downsizer contributions count towards the cap?
No. Downsizer contributions sit outside the non-concessional cap and have their own eligibility rules and no upper age limit. Contributions under the small business CGT cap and certain personal injury contributions are also outside it, so these can be used alongside a bring-forward arrangement.
What happens if I contribute too much?
The ATO issues an excess non-concessional contributions determination. You can generally elect to release the excess plus a proportion of associated earnings, with those earnings taxed at your marginal rate with an offset, or leave the excess in the fund where it is taxed at the top marginal rate. Releasing is usually better, and the election has deadlines.
Taking the next step
Two numbers decide almost everything here: your total super balance at the last 30 June, and whether you triggered a bring-forward arrangement in either of the two previous financial years. Both are available from the ATO through myGov, and both are worth confirming before making any large after-tax contribution.
General advice warning: This article contains general information only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it is not tax advice. Contribution caps and total super balance thresholds are indexed and the figures stated apply to the 2026-27 financial year, changing from 1 July 2027. Superannuation is preserved and generally cannot be accessed until you meet a condition of release. Eligibility depends on your circumstances, including your age, balance and contribution history. Confirm your position with the ATO through myGov and seek personal advice from a licensed financial adviser and a registered tax agent before making contributions.
