As 30 June approaches, now is a timely opportunity to review your financial position and consider strategies that may help reduce tax, boost your super and strengthen your long‑term financial plan.
The end of the financial year isn’t just about tax returns — it’s about making informed decisions that align with your goals and set you up well for the year ahead. Below are some key EOFY considerations to keep in mind for the 2025/26 financial year.
- Make the Most of Super Contributions
Superannuation remains one of the most tax‑effective ways to build long‑term wealth. Depending on your circumstances, there may be several opportunities to contribute before 30 June.
Personal tax‑deductible contributions
If you have surplus cash or savings, you may be able to make an after‑tax super contribution and claim a tax deduction. These contributions are generally taxed at 15% in super (or 30% for higher‑income earners), which may be lower than your marginal tax rate.
For 2025/26, the concessional contribution cap is $30,000, which includes:
- employer Super Guarantee contributions (current standard rate 12%)
- salary sacrifice contributions
- personal deductible contributions
If you haven’t used your full cap in prior years and your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June 2025, you may also be eligible to use catch‑up concessional contributions from the last five financial years. Notably, unused amounts from 2020/21 expire on 30 June 2026, making this year particularly important.
- Salary Sacrifice to Super
If you’re an employee, salary sacrificing part of your pre‑tax salary or bonus into super can be a simple and effective way to reduce tax while growing your retirement savings.
Salary sacrifice contributions are taxed at up to 15% in super (or 30% for higher incomes), rather than your marginal tax rate, which can be as high as 47% including Medicare levy.
With the concessional cap set to increase to $32,500 from 1 July 2026, EOFY is also a good time to review and adjust your salary sacrifice arrangements for the year ahead.
- Convert Savings Outside Super into Super
If you hold investments or savings outside super, you may want to consider making non‑concessional (after‑tax) contributions.
While these contributions don’t provide an upfront tax deduction, investment earnings within super are generally taxed at a maximum of 15%, which may be lower than the tax paid on earnings outside super.
For 2025/26:
- the non‑concessional cap is $120,000, or
- up to $360,000 using the bring‑forward rule (subject to eligibility), and
- your total super balance must have been under $2 million on 30 June 2025. And under $1.76M to utilise the full $360,000 bring forward rule
- Government Co‑Contributions
If you’re a lower‑income earner and under 71 at the end of the financial year, making an after‑tax super contribution could entitle you to a government co‑contribution of up to $500.
For 2025/26:
- the maximum co‑contribution is available if you earn $47,488 or less and contribute $1,000, and
- eligibility phases out completely once income reaches $62,488.
This strategy can be particularly effective for younger workers or those returning to the workforce.
- Boost Your Spouse’s Super and Reduce Tax
If your spouse earns a low income or is not working, you may be able to contribute to their super and receive a tax offset of up to $540.
In 2025/26, the full offset is available where:
- you contribute $3,000, and
- your spouse’s income is $37,000 or less, with partial offsets available up to $40,000.
Splitting your super contributions to your spouse
You may also be able to split concessional contributions made in 2024/25 to your spouse’s super account before 30 June 2026, which can help manage total super balances and improve long‑term tax and retirement outcomes as a couple.
Is your spouse eligible?
To be eligible to split your super contributions to your spouse, they must be either:
under 60, or
between 60 and under 65 and declare they are not currently retired for superannuation purposes. Once your spouse reaches age 65, they are no longer eligible to receive a contribution split from your super.
- Timing Matters at EOFY
A key EOFY trap is leaving things too late. Super contributions generally count when received by the fund, not when you make the payment. Electronic transfers and fund‑specific cut‑off dates mean action often needs to be taken well before 30 June.
Other timing considerations may include:
- meeting minimum pension payments (for retirees and SMSFs),
- managing capital gains tax if assets are sold, and
- pre‑paying deductible expenses such as income protection insurance or interest on investment loans.
Other EOFY strategies
Maximise gifting thresholds
Assets of up to $10,000 per financial year (or $30,000 across a five-year rolling period) can be gifted before there is any impact on social security entitlements. Social security clients who want to provide financial assistance to family or friends may be able to contribute $20,000 in a short period. For example, a client could gift $10,000 before 30 June and a further $10,000 from 1 July.
Manage CGT on asset sales (please note recent budget announcement may impact these strategies)
There’s a range of strategies that could be used to manage the capital gains tax (CGT) that may be payable when disposing of assets. These include:
- deferring the sale until the asset has been held for 12 months to benefit from the 50% CGT discount
- deferring the sale to another financial year if it’s expected the client’s taxable income will be lower
- spreading the sale over several years to smooth out the impact on taxable income in any given year
- selling assets that trigger a capital loss to offset gains made on other assets in the same financial year (while ensuring it’s appropriate to sell the asset and that ‘wash sales’ provisions aren’t breached)
- offsetting any realised capital losses against gains from assets not eligible for the 50% discount, and
- making a personal deductible super contribution (perhaps by also utilising the catch-up rules) to offset some or all of a taxable capital gain from the sale of an asset in the same financial year.
Pre-pay deductible expenses
Pre-paying certain expenses can bring-forward the tax deduction and reduce taxable income in 2025/26. Examples of deductible expenses that may be pre-paid include:
- premiums on an income protection policy held outside super
- interest on a fixed rate investment loan
- expenses for a rental property, and
- work related subscriptions.
Defer retirement / redundancy to new financial year
Deferring retirement (or a redundancy where discretion is available) to a new financial year may reduce the amount of tax payable on:
- taxable employment termination payments (ETPs)
- accrued annual leave entitlements, and
- accrued long service leave entitlements.
Some other things to remember are:
- tax payable next financial year may be managed by making a personal deductible super contribution if eligible
- if age 60 is reached next financial year, a lower concessional tax rate may be payable on ETPs, and
- the ETP cap and the tax-free portion of redundancy amounts are indexed on 1 July, meaning there may be further concessional tax treatment next financial year.
Getting Advice
EOFY strategies can be powerful, but they’re not one‑size‑fits‑all. Contribution caps, eligibility rules and long‑term impacts need to be carefully considered before acting.
If you’re thinking about making EOFY moves before 30 June, we recommend speaking with us. We can help you assess which strategies are appropriate for your situation and ensure everything is implemented correctly and on time.