Downsizer Contribution Calculator Australia

What the downsizer contribution calculator does

A downsizer contribution lets an eligible person put part of the proceeds of selling their home into superannuation, and this calculator checks the tests and works out the amount. It compares your age against the minimum age, your ownership period against the minimum holding period, applies the per-person maximum, and limits a couple's combined contribution to the total sale proceeds.

It then shows what the contribution does to the rest of your super position: the non-concessional cap you still have available, your balance after the contribution, and how much headroom is left under the transfer balance cap if you later move the money into a retirement pension.

Who is eligible

Four conditions have to be met, and the calculator tests the first three directly.

• You must be at least the minimum age at the time the contribution is made.
• The home must have been owned by you or your spouse for at least the minimum ownership period before the sale.
• The property must have qualified, at least in part, for the main residence capital gains tax exemption.
• The contribution must reach your fund within 90 days of receiving the proceeds, and the approved form must be given to the fund at or before the time of the contribution.

The ownership test looks at the couple, not just the person contributing. If your spouse held the title in their sole name for the whole period, you can still make a downsizer contribution provided the other conditions are met. That is why both people can contribute from a single sale even when only one name was on the certificate of title.

How the amount is worked out

Each eligible person is capped at the per-person maximum. Neither person can contribute more than the total proceeds of the sale, and a couple's combined contributions are capped at those proceeds as well. So a home sold for less than twice the per-person maximum limits the couple to the sale price, not to twice the individual cap.

The calculator allocates your requested amount first, then gives your spouse whatever room is left within the proceeds. If the property sold for a large amount, both of you can reach the full per-person maximum and the remainder stays outside super as cash.

One point worth stressing: the amount is measured against the sale proceeds, not against what you have left after buying the next home. You are free to spend most of the proceeds on a replacement property and still contribute up to the cap, as long as you have the money available from another source within the 90-day window.

Why it sits outside the normal caps

The contribution is not counted against the non-concessional cap and is not blocked by a high total super balance. That makes it one of the few ways a person already near or above the balance limits can still add a large sum to super. The calculator reports your remaining non-concessional headroom unchanged so this is obvious in the result.

There is a limit to the freedom, though. The money is still in the accumulation phase, taxed at up to 15% on earnings, until it is moved into a retirement income stream. That move is measured against the transfer balance cap, and a large downsizer contribution can push a person past it. The tool shows the remaining headroom so you can see whether part of the balance would have to stay in accumulation.

Trade-offs to weigh before contributing

Moving money from your home into super changes how it is treated in several systems at once, and not all of them work in your favour.

• Your home is generally exempt from the Age Pension assets test. Superannuation is counted once you reach pension age, so a large contribution can reduce or end an entitlement.
• Super earnings are taxed concessionally rather than being tax free the way owner-occupied capital growth is.
• Money in super is preserved, so access depends on meeting a condition of release.
• Death benefits paid to a non-dependant adult child are taxed on the taxable component, whereas the family home passed through an estate is not.

Against those points, the contribution buys a low-tax earnings environment, the option of a tax free retirement income stream within the transfer balance cap, and a simple way to convert an illiquid asset into an income-producing one.

Reading your result

The headline figure is the total downsizer contribution available to your household given the sale price and the tests. Beneath it, the tool separates your contribution from your spouse's, shows the maximum each of you could make, and reports the proceeds left outside super. The chart splits the sale price into the two contributions and the cash retained, which makes the trade-off between super and available cash easy to see at a glance.

If the eligibility flag comes back as zero, check the age and ownership inputs first. The years until you meet the age test are shown so you can judge whether delaying settlement or the contribution itself would change the outcome.

When to use this tool

Run it before you list the property, not after settlement, because the 90-day window leaves little time to change your mind. It is also worth running when a couple is deciding how much of the proceeds to keep accessible, and when someone near the transfer balance cap is working out how much can realistically move into a pension. The caps, the minimum age and the ownership period are maintained from official ATO figures and updated when they change.

This is general information only and not financial advice.

About This Tool: Downsizer Contribution

Downsizer contribution: use this tool to get an instant, accurate estimate. The figures follow official ATO guidance and every rate and threshold is kept up to date for 2026. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.