The $540 spouse super contribution tax offset: how it works in 2026–27

If your spouse earns less than $40,000, you can put money into their super and get a tax offset of up to $540. The offset comes off your own tax. This guide shows how the $540 is worked out, why it shrinks between $37,000 and $40,000, and the income test that catches people out.

How the offset is worked out

The offset is 18% of whichever is smaller:

• $3,000, reduced by $1 for every $1 your spouse's income is over $37,000, or
• the amount you contributed to their super during the year.

So the most it can be is 18% of $3,000, which is $540. If your spouse's income is $40,000 or more, there is no offset at all.

What a $3,000 contribution gets you

The table shows the offset on a $3,000 contribution at different levels of spouse income.

At $39,000, the offset is based on $1,000. Contributing more than $1,000 still adds to your spouse's super, but it does not raise the offset above $180.

Contributing more than $3,000

For a spouse with income of $37,000 or less, the offset is 18% of each dollar up to $3,000. After that it stops growing.

The income test is wider than salary

For this offset, your spouse's income is the total of:

• their assessable income, before deductions,
• their reportable fringe benefits, and
• their reportable employer super contributions, which include salary sacrifice.

Take a spouse on a $38,000 salary who salary sacrifices $2,000 into super. Their assessable income is $36,000, which looks like it qualifies for the full $540. But the $2,000 of salary sacrifice is added back, so their income for the offset is $38,000. A $3,000 contribution then gets an offset of $360, not $540. See how salary sacrifice works for more on reportable contributions.

Because deductions are not taken off, work expenses or rental losses do not bring your spouse's income down for this test.

Who can claim

All of these need to be true:

• You are married or in a de facto relationship, and not living separately and apart on a permanent basis.
• You are both Australian residents when the contribution is made.
• You do not claim a tax deduction for the contribution.
• Your spouse is under 75 when the contribution is made.
• Your spouse does not go over their non-concessional contributions cap for the year. The cap is $130,000 for 2026–27.
• Your spouse's total super balance is below the general transfer balance cap at the end of the previous financial year. For 2026–27 that means below $2.1 million at 30 June 2026.
• The money goes to a complying super fund or retirement savings account.

Contributions made to meet a family law super split do not count. If you had more than one spouse during the year, the combined offset is still capped at $540.

How the contribution is treated in the fund

A spouse contribution is an after-tax contribution. It counts towards your spouse's non-concessional cap, not their concessional cap. It is separate from concessional contributions and carry-forward room, which are taxed at 15% in the fund.

Contribution splitting is a different thing. It moves some of your own concessional contributions from the previous year into your spouse's account. It has its own rules and does not give you this offset.

How it is claimed

• You contribute to your spouse's fund during the financial year.
• You claim the offset in your own tax return for that year, using your spouse's income for the same year.
• The offset is worked out on the year the contribution is made, so a contribution made on 1 July falls into the new year.

Assumptions behind the numbers

• The 18% rate, $3,000 base, $37,000 and $40,000 thresholds, $540 maximum and the income test are from the ATO's guidance on spouse super contributions, checked in October 2026.
• The $130,000 non-concessional cap and $2.1 million general transfer balance cap are the ATO's 2026–27 figures.
• Examples assume all other conditions are met and the person claiming has enough tax payable to use the offset.
• In the salary sacrifice example, the spouse has no other income, fringe benefits or reportable contributions.
• The ATO or a registered tax agent can confirm whether the offset applies to a particular couple.