How the super salary sacrifice limit affects your take-home pay when comparing job offers

How to compare job offers using take-home pay

When you receive a job offer, the advertised salary is often expressed as "$X plus super" or "$X including super". To understand what actually reaches your bank account, you need to estimate your take-home pay after income tax and the Medicare levy. This guide explains how the super salary sacrifice limit fits into that calculation and helps you compare offers fairly.

Understanding your take-home pay

Your take-home pay is your gross salary minus:

• Income tax (using the 2026–27 resident tax rates)
• Medicare levy (usually 2% of taxable income)
• Any other deductions like HELP/HECS or salary sacrifice

Super guarantee contributions (12% from 1 July 2026) are not deducted from your take-home pay if the offer is "plus super". They are paid by your employer on top of your salary. If the offer is "including super", then the super component is part of the total package and your take-home will be lower.

Use the Take-home pay tool to estimate your net pay for any salary. The Benchmarks page shows typical earnings, such as the national minimum wage of $26.44 per hour ($1,004.90 per week) and the full-time adult ordinary time average of $2,083.70 per week.

The role of super and salary sacrifice

Salary sacrifice (also called salary packaging) lets you put some of your pre-tax salary into super. This reduces your taxable income, so you pay less income tax and Medicare levy. The contributions are taxed inside your super fund at 15%, which is usually lower than your marginal tax rate.

However, there is a limit on how much you can contribute before tax each year. This is the super salary sacrifice limit, officially called the concessional contributions cap. For 2026–27, the cap is $32,500. This includes:

• Your employer’s super guarantee contributions
• Any salary sacrifice contributions you make
• Personal contributions you claim as a tax deduction

If you exceed $32,500 in total concessional contributions, the excess is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate, plus an interest charge. The Australian Taxation Office explains that salary sacrifice contributions are classified as employer contributions and do not reduce the amount your employer must pay as super guarantee.

Also note the Division 293 threshold: if your combined income and concessional super contributions exceed $250,000, you pay an additional 15% tax on the excess contributions (or on the contributions, whichever is less).

Comparing offers: gross vs net

To compare two job offers, convert each to an estimated take-home amount. For example:

• Offer A: $100,000 plus super (employer pays $12,000 super, total package $112,000)
• Offer B: $108,352 (full-time adult ordinary time average) plus super

Your take-home from Offer A depends on your tax bracket and whether you salary sacrifice. If you do not sacrifice, your taxable income is $100,000. Using the 2026–27 rates, tax is about $22,297 plus Medicare $2,000, leaving around $75,703. If you sacrifice $10,000 into super, taxable income drops to $90,000, tax is about $18,297, Medicare $1,800, take-home $69,903, but your super gets an extra $10,000 (taxed at 15%).

The super salary sacrifice limit means you cannot sacrifice more than $32,500 total concessional contributions per year. If your employer already pays $12,000 super guarantee, you can sacrifice up to $20,500 more without exceeding the cap.

Key points to remember

• The super salary sacrifice limit for 2026–27 is $32,500.
• Salary sacrifice reduces your take-home pay now but boosts your retirement savings.
• Medicare levy applies at 2% for most full-time workers; the latest single thresholds are $28,011 and $35,013.
• Always compare offers on a like-for-like basis: either both "plus super" or both "including super".

For more details, see the Super guide and the Salary packaging page.