ATO Maximum Super Contribution Base 2025-26 — $62,500 Per Quarter

About the maximum super contribution base (MSCB) is the maximum amount of earnings per quarter on which your employer must pay the Superannuation Guarantee (SG). For 2025-26, the MSCB is $62,500 per quarter, which is $250,000 per year. If you earn more than $62,500 in a quarter, your employer is only required to pay the 12% SG on the first $62,500 — not on the excess.

For example, if you earn $80,000 in a quarter, your employer must pay 12% on $62,500 = $7,500, not 12% on $80,000. The MSCB is indexed each year by Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) and rounded down to the nearest multiple of $10.

The 2024-25 MSCB was $62,270 per quarter (more on this below).

About the MSCB primarily affects high-income earners. If your annual salary is below $250,000 ($62,500 x 4 quarters), your super is calculated on your full earnings and the cap doesn't affect you. If your annual salary exceeds $250,000, your employer's SG obligation is capped.

The short answer? On a $300,000 salary, your employer pays 12% on $250,000 = $31,233.60, not 12% on $300,000 = $36,000 — a difference of $4,766.40 per year. Note: many employers voluntarily pay super on the full salary as part of the employment package, even though they aren't legally required to above the MSCB.

Check your contract to see if your employer pays super on your full salary or only up to the MSCB. The MSCB applies per employer — if you have two jobs, each employer applies the cap separately to their own payments.

So, the MSCB has increased over time: 2022-23: $60,220/quarter. 2023-24: $62,270/quarter. 2024-25: $62,270/quarter (unchanged).

2025-26: $62,500/quarter. The ATO publishes the updated MSCB each year, usually around February, based on AWOTE data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The short answer? The MSCB doesn't apply to salary sacrifice contributions — you can salary sacrifice up to the concessional contributions cap ($30,000 for 2025-26) regardless of your income level. It also doesn't affect voluntary employer contributions above the SG rate.

Step 1: Divide your annual salary into quarters. Step 2: For each quarter, compare your earnings to the MSCB ($62,500). Step 3: Your employer pays 12% on the lesser of your quarterly earnings or $62,500.

Example: Annual salary of $300,000. Quarterly earnings: $75,000.

MSCB: $62,500. SG per quarter: 12% x $62,500 = $7,500. Annual SG: $7,500 x 4 = $31,233.60. Without the MSCB, your super would be $36,000 — so the cap reduces your employer's contribution by $4,766.40.

If you want to maximise your super, you can make personal deductible contributions or salary sacrifice to reach the $30,000 concessional cap, and make non-concessional contributions up to $120,000 per year.