Each partner’s super is held in their own name, but couples can still even things up. Two strategies let one partner add to the other’s super, and they work in quite different ways.
A spouse super contribution is after-tax money one partner pays into the other partner’s super, and if the receiving partner is on a low income, the partner who pays may claim a tax offset. Contribution splitting is different: it moves part of one partner’s concessional contributions into the other’s account after the financial year ends.
Sarah Lindsay and Phillip Henderson, who lead the advice team at Ironbark Wealth Advisers, find it’s common for couples not to know about the spouse offset until it’s raised. This guide covers how each strategy works, which couples the offset tends to suit and how splitting can interact with the Age Pension. It is general information only, not personal financial advice, because whether either strategy suits you depends on your incomes, your ages and your plans. Ironbark Wealth Advisers is a family-led firm based in Dubbo with over 35 years of experience, meeting clients in Dubbo, across Orange and surrounds, and Australia-wide via Zoom and Google Meet. If you are newer to how super works, start with our guide to how superannuation works in Australia.
Quick summary
- The full $540 offset applies on a $3,000 spouse contribution when the receiving partner earns $37,000 or less. It reduces from there and stops at $40,000.
- Splitting is applied for in the financial year after the contributions were made, and the receiving partner must meet an age test.
- Splitting moves up to 85% of a year’s concessional contributions, and can be useful where there’s an age gap between partners.
- Where one partner is under Age Pension age, splitting can affect whose super is assessed, depending on the couple’s full circumstances.
Jump to:
- Spouse contributions and splitting compared
- How the spouse tax offset works
- Which couples it suits
- Contribution splitting
- Splitting and the Age Pension
- Frequently asked questions
Spouse Contributions and Splitting at a Glance
The key difference is where the money comes from: a spouse contribution is new after-tax money and can earn a tax offset, while splitting moves concessional contributions already in your own account and earns no offset.
A Side-by-Side Comparison of the Two Strategies
| Spouse contribution | Contribution splitting | |
|---|---|---|
| What moves | After-tax money one partner pays into the other’s super | Up to 85% of one partner’s concessional contributions from the previous year |
| Tax benefit | The paying partner may claim an offset of up to $540 | No offset |
| Income test | The receiving partner earns under $40,000 for any offset | None |
| Timing | Any time during the year | Applied for in the financial year after the contributions were made |
| Age rule for the receiving partner | Under 75 for the offset | Under preservation age, or 60 to 64 and not retired |
| Which cap it counts towards | The receiving partner’s non-concessional cap | The original partner’s concessional cap |
How the Spouse Contribution Tax Offset Works
The partner who pays an after-tax contribution into the other’s super can claim a tax offset of 18% of up to $3,000, so a maximum of $540, when the receiving partner’s income is low enough.
Who Makes the Contribution and Who Claims the Offset
You pay the money into your partner’s super fund and claim the offset in your own tax return. The Australian Taxation Office sets a few conditions:
- you can’t also claim a deduction for the contribution, and money you split from your own super doesn’t qualify
- you and your partner are both Australian residents when the contribution is made, and you aren’t living separately and apart on a permanent basis
- your partner is under 75
- your partner hasn’t gone over their non-concessional cap for the year, and their total super balance at the start of the year is under the general transfer balance cap.
For your partner, the money counts as a non-concessional contribution.
The Income Test on the Receiving Partner
The full offset is available when your partner’s income is $37,000 or less. It reduces between $37,000 and $40,000 and stops at $40,000. Income here means their assessable income plus reportable fringe benefits and reportable employer super contributions, so any salary sacrifice is counted back in. The ATO’s super-related tax offsets page sets out the calculation.
How Much Needs to Go In to Reach the Full Offset
The $3,000 that attracts the offset drops by $1 for every dollar your partner earns over $37,000, which is why the offset shrinks to nothing at $40,000. You can contribute more than $3,000, but the offset is worked out on no more than that amount.
Which Couples It Tends to Suit
The spouse contribution tax offset suits couples where one partner earns a lower income, or both do, and where the paying partner can spare the money. Sarah and Phillip both see the offset as the win, with the boost to the receiving partner’s balance on top.
One Partner on a Lower Income, or Both
Sarah sees it work for couples with one lower-income partner and for couples on two modest incomes. The income test only applies to the partner receiving the money, so the partner paying it can earn any amount.
A Partner at Home, Part-Time or Back at Work After Children
A partner at home with children, working part time or easing back into work may sit under the income threshold for a few years, and those are the years the offset is available. If that partner also makes an after-tax contribution of their own, they may qualify for the super co-contribution as well.
Why Cash Flow Is Often the Hurdle
In Sarah’s experience, cash flow is often the hurdle. The paying partner needs about $3,000 spare to reach the full offset, and that money then stays in super until the receiving partner meets a condition of release.
To see whether either strategy fits your household, call our Dubbo office on (02) 6884 4680 and we can work through it with you.
Contribution Splitting
Contribution splitting lets you move up to 85% of a year’s concessional contributions from your super account into your partner’s account.
What Can Be Split, and When You Apply
Employer contributions, salary sacrifice and personal contributions you claim as a deduction can be split, up to the lesser of 85% of the year’s concessional contributions or the concessional cap. Personal contributions you don’t claim as a deduction, spouse contributions and government co-contributions can’t. You lodge a contributions splitting application once a year per fund, in the financial year after the contributions were made. If your whole balance is being withdrawn this year, you can apply in the same year instead. Funds don’t have to offer splitting, so check with yours first.
If you’re splitting personal contributions you plan to claim as a deduction, your notice of intent has to reach the fund before the split application. Our guide to the notice of intent to claim a super deduction explains why the order matters.
Using an Age Gap So Money Can Be Accessed Sooner
Where there’s an age gap, splitting into the older partner’s account can bring money within reach sooner. It becomes accessible once the older partner reaches preservation age and meets a condition of release, which can be years before the younger partner could reach it. Restrictions and age rules apply, so it needs care.
The Age and Timing Rules That Apply
When you apply, your partner must be under their preservation age, which is 60 for anyone born after 30 June 1964, or aged 60 to 64 and not retired. Once they turn 65, or retire after 60, contributions can no longer be split to them. Splitting also only moves new contributions each year, so it shifts money gradually rather than all at once. Our guide to transition to retirement covers what working past 60 can mean for accessing super.
Splitting and the Age Pension
Splitting can also work in the other direction, into a younger partner’s account, because super held by someone under Age Pension age isn’t counted for the Age Pension while it stays in accumulation.
Why Super in a Younger Partner’s Accumulation Account Isn’t Counted as an Asset
Services Australia doesn’t count super in the income or assets tests for someone under Age Pension age, which is 67, as long as their fund isn’t paying them a pension. Once they reach 67, it counts.
How That Can Affect the Older Partner’s Age Pension
A couple’s assets are assessed together, which is why Phillip notes that splitting can also go to the younger partner. Super in the younger partner’s accumulation account isn’t counted until they reach 67, so contributions split to them stay out of the couple’s Age Pension assessment until then. Whether that makes a difference depends on the couple’s full circumstances, including their other assets and income, so it’s worth modelling with an adviser before acting. Our pre-retirees and retirees page explains how we help with this stage.
Uneven Balances Between Partners
It’s common for one partner to have much less super than the other, and it isn’t always a problem.
Why One Partner Often Has Much Less Super
In Sarah’s experience, the partner with less super is usually the one who stepped back from paid work to care for the children.
When an Uneven Balance Isn’t a Problem
Phillip notes that if the older partner holds the larger balance, that can work in the couple’s favour, because they can reach it sooner.
Looking at a Couple’s Super as One Plan
Sarah looks at a couple as one unit rather than as two separate accounts. Spouse contributions and splitting are two of the tools for evening out balances, alongside each partner’s own contributions. Our guide to how much super you need to retire covers the targets couples are usually working towards.
How Ironbark Works Through Super for Couples
Ironbark follows the same five step advice process for every client, and for couples it covers both partners from the first meeting.
- Discovery. A conversation about your goals, financial position, lifestyle needs and future aspirations, as a couple.
- Analysis and Research. Detailed analysis, using trusted research partners to review your options, including both partners’ incomes, ages and balances.
- Strategy and Recommendations. A tailored plan reflecting your goals, risk comfort and long term priorities.
- Implementation. We handle the paperwork and work with your accountant where needed.
- Ongoing Support. Your adviser stays with you, reviewing and adjusting as your incomes and the rules change.
For couples, most of the weight sits in steps one and three: understanding both partners’ situations, then deciding which strategy, if any, fits.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I claim the spouse super contribution tax offset?
You claim it in your own tax return, at the tax offset for super contributions on behalf of your spouse. You’ll need the amount you contributed and your partner’s income for the year, so keep the fund’s receipt and check your partner’s figures before you lodge.
How much can I contribute to my partner’s super?
You can contribute up to your partner’s non-concessional cap, which is $130,000 for 2026-27, while they’re under 75. The offset is only worked out on the first $3,000, so anything above that adds to their balance without increasing the offset.
Can we combine our super into one account?
No. Each partner’s super is held in their own name. Spouse contributions and splitting move money between your accounts over time, and once you’ve met a condition of release other strategies may become available, which is a conversation for an adviser.
Do de facto couples qualify?
Yes. For both strategies, a spouse includes a husband or wife and a de facto partner of any gender who lives with you on a genuine domestic basis.
Can we use the spouse offset and the co-contribution in the same year?
Yes, if each set of conditions is met. Each needs its own contribution: the lower-income partner’s own after-tax contribution for the co-contribution, and a contribution from the other partner for the spouse offset.
Talk to Ironbark About Super for Couples
Spouse contributions and splitting are easy to miss if nobody raises them, and the details decide whether either one fits.
If you’d like to look at your super as a couple, we can work through it with you alongside our wider superannuation advice. There is no pressure and no obligation. You are welcome to call us on (02) 6884 4680, send us an online enquiry, or book a consultation at a time that suits you. Whether you would prefer to visit our Church Street office in Dubbo, have us come to you across Orange and the Central West, or meet online, we will work around what suits you best. You can also explore more guidance in the Ironbark Knowledge Hub.
This article was written by the team at Ironbark Wealth Advisers, a family-led financial planning firm with over 35 years of experience, supporting families and business owners across Dubbo, Orange and regional New South Wales. Ironbark Wealth Advisers Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR No. 315227) of Madison Financial Group Pty Ltd, AFSL No. 246679. This article is general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not tax or legal advice. Please consider the relevant Financial Services Guide (FSG) and Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), and speak with your accountant or solicitor before making any decisions.
References
- Australian Taxation Office, Spouse super contributions
- Australian Taxation Office, Super-related tax offsets
- Australian Taxation Office, Superannuation contributions splitting
- Australian Taxation Office, Non-concessional contributions cap
- Services Australia, Superannuation (Age Pension assets test)
