The bring-forward rule moved under your feet on 1 July. Here are the new tiers

The bring-forward arrangement is the rule that lets a member compress up to three years of after-tax contributions into one: with the non-concessional cap at $130,000 this year, that is up to $390,000 in a single hit. It is the mechanism behind downsizer top-ups, inheritance contributions and most large one-off transfers into super.

Who gets it, and how much of it, hangs entirely on the member's total super balance at the previous 30 June. And every one of those thresholds moved on 1 July, because they are derived from the general transfer balance cap, which indexed from $2.0 million to $2.1 million.

The FY 2026-27 tier table

Measured at 30 June 2026:

A balance under $1.84 million keeps the full three-year bring-forward, up to $390,000.

A balance from $1.84 million to under $1.97 million keeps two years, up to $260,000.

A balance from $1.97 million to under $2.1 million has the standard annual cap only, $130,000.

At $2.1 million or above, the non-concessional cap for the year is nil.

The arithmetic behind the table is simple once seen: each tier boundary is the general transfer balance cap minus two, one or zero annual caps. That is exactly why the boundaries move every time either number indexes, and why a tier check done against last year's figures is now wrong for every member near a boundary.

The age gate moved to centre stage too

The bring-forward is available to members under 75 at 1 July of the year. For a couple in their early seventies planning a final large contribution, the timing question is not one financial year but which side of a specific 1 July their seventy-fifth birthday falls on. That is a calendar fact worth establishing precisely rather than roughly.

Where the trap actually springs

The rule is tested on the prior 30 June balance, but the consequences arrive later: a contribution accepted in October against a stale tier reading becomes an excess non-concessional contribution problem the following year, with its own paperwork and tax treatment. The failure is rarely the rule being unknown. It is the balance check being done once, against old thresholds, and remembered as still true.

SMSF Core tracks this as a living figure: record each member's 30 June balance on the Division 296 tracker and the caps page reads it from there, showing the member's current tier, the amount available under it, and whether this year's contributions have already triggered a bring-forward period. The under-75 gate is checked from the member register's date of birth, and where it is not recorded, the tracker says the gate is unverified rather than guessing.

The sample fund at app.smsfcore.com/demo shows the caps page reading a recorded 30 June balance, and the Division 296 estimator at smsfcore.com/div296 is free with no signup.

SMSF Core is an information tool, not a licensed financial service. Large contribution decisions have personal consequences this article cannot see. Talk to a licensed adviser or your accountant.