Division 293 tax
An extra 15% super-contributions tax for high earners.
Division 293 is an extra 15% tax on certain before-tax super contributions for people whose income plus those contributions is over $250,000. It reduces the tax advantage of super at high incomes, so contributions are effectively taxed at 30% instead of 15% — still often below the top marginal rate.
The $250,000 test is on your Division 293 income PLUS your low-tax super contributions, not your salary alone. That distinction is what catches people out: your employer’s guarantee counts, so you can be under $250,000 on your payslip and over the threshold once super is added. Division 293 income starts from taxable income and adds several things back — reportable fringe benefits, net investment losses and some foreign income among them — but it deliberately DISREGARDS reportable super contributions, because those are counted on the contributions side instead. Counting them in both places would tax the same dollars twice. The worked example below is the straightforward case where none of the other adjustments apply.
Worked example
You earn $260,000 and receive the 12% guarantee, $31,200. Division 293 income is $260,000 + $31,200 = $291,200, which is $41,200 over the threshold. The surcharge is 15% of the lesser of that excess and your contributions — 15% of $31,200 — so about $4,680.
Common mistake
Checking your salary against $250,000 and stopping there. Someone on $240,000 is under the threshold on salary and over it once the $28,800 guarantee is counted, so the surcharge applies even though no payslip ever showed $250,000.
Grounded in ATO guidance. Figures last checked . General information, not tax advice.
Let Fin handle the jargon for you
Connect your bank and Fin sorts your income, expenses and GST automatically — so terms like this just become numbers that are already worked out. Free to start, no card needed.
Get 2Fin free →