An Offset for Contributing to a Low-Income Partner's Super
Making a non-concessional contribution to your spouse's super can attract a tax offset where their income is below a threshold. It is a modest amount, it phases out quickly, and it is frequently confused with contribution splitting — which is a different mechanism, moves a different kind of contribution, and attracts no offset at all.
- The answer: A non-concessional contribution to a spouse whose income is below the threshold attracts a tax offset for the contributing partner.
- The trap: It is not contribution splitting. Splitting moves concessional contributions already made and attracts no offset; this is new after-tax money.
- The recommendation: Check the receiving spouse's income against the phase-out before contributing. Above the upper threshold the offset is nil and the contribution is just a contribution.
Where the AI summary above gets this wrong
"You can split your super contributions with your spouse and claim a tax offset."
That's surface-true. Here's what it misses:
- Splitting and the spouse contribution are different things — Splitting transfers concessional contributions already made to a spouse's account and attracts no offset. The spouse contribution is new after-tax money and is what the offset applies to.
- The offset phases out on the receiving spouse's income — It reduces as their income rises above the lower threshold and is nil above the upper one, so the eligibility test is about them rather than about you.
01 How the offset works
You make a non-concessional contribution from after-tax money into your spouse's super account. Where their income is below the lower threshold, you receive a tax offset calculated as a percentage of the contribution up to a capped amount.
The offset reduces as their income rises between the lower and upper thresholds, and is nil above the upper one. Income for this purpose includes reportable employer superannuation contributions and reportable fringe benefits, not only assessable income.
The contribution counts against the receiving spouse's non-concessional cap, not yours, so it is limited by their total super balance and their own cap position as described in the non-concessional reference.
Source: ATO — Contributions splitting
02 How it differs from splitting
Contribution splitting moves up to a proportion of concessional contributions you have already made into your spouse's account, in the year after they were made. It is a transfer of existing contributions rather than new money.
Splitting attracts no tax offset. Its purpose is to balance two accounts — for the transfer balance cap, for the assets test where one partner is younger, or to equalise balances before retirement — rather than to save tax now.
The two can be used together: split concessional contributions to move accumulated balance, and make a spouse contribution for the offset. They are subject to different caps and different rules, and the split is covered in the contribution splitting post.
Shows: the spouse contribution tax offset at your partner's income, using the rate and the phase-out thresholds you supply. Ignores: the receiving spouse's non-concessional cap and total super balance, which can prevent the contribution entirely, and any contribution splitting done separately.
03 When it is worth doing
The offset is small in absolute terms and the contribution has other uses. Its clearest application is a household with one partner out of the workforce or working part-time, where the balances are unequal and the receiving spouse's income is low.
The larger benefit is usually the balance move rather than the offset. Building a low-income spouse's balance uses their transfer balance cap, which would otherwise go unused, and can shelter assets from the Age Pension assets test while they are under Age Pension age.
Where the receiving spouse's income is above the upper threshold, the offset is nil and the contribution should be assessed purely on those structural grounds — which are frequently reason enough.
The offset is not the reason to do this. The reason is that a low-income partner has a transfer balance cap they will otherwise never use, and an accumulation account that is invisible to the assets test until they reach pension age. Both of those are worth more than the offset and neither is what the measure is marketed on.
FAQ
Is it worth making a spouse contribution to claim the spouse contribution tax offset?
The offset itself is modest and phases out quickly on the receiving spouse's income. The larger benefit is usually structural — building a low-income partner's balance uses their transfer balance cap and can shelter assets from the pension assets test.
Can I split super with my spouse?
Contribution splitting transfers a proportion of concessional contributions already made into their account, in the year after they were made. It attracts no offset and is a different mechanism from a spouse contribution.
Whose contribution cap does a spouse contribution use?
The receiving spouse's non-concessional cap, so it is limited by their cap position and their total super balance rather than by yours.
Sources
Regulator references
- ATO — Contributions splitting · Australian Taxation Office · 2026Contributions splitting: which contributions can be transferred to a spouse's account, and when.Last verified: 2026-09-07
- ASIC Moneysmart — Super contributions · ASIC Moneysmart · 2026The types of super contribution — employer, salary sacrifice, personal and spouse — and their caps.Last verified: 2026-09-07
Calculator unit tests · the assertions this page's worked example is checked against, and their last result
Changelog
- 2026-09-07 — initial publish (new format)
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Jordan Reeves
Founder of Talk Through Wealth. A software engineer for over a decade before turning to retirement planning, Jordan built the projection engine after watching family members get fragmented, country-by-country advice that never reconciled. He writes about retirement the way the engine computes it: month-by-month, lifetime-long, and skeptical of any rule of thumb that hasn't been run through the math.