The implementation of Payday Super will mean more frequent contributions than the current quarterly schedule, but SMSF trustees can expect the total amount of employer contributions received over a year to remain the same, all else being equal. Is that right? Yes and no.

Despite the new nomenclature ‘qualifying earnings’ and the legislative reorganisation of types of payments that are included in or excluded from the superannuation guarantee (SG) regime, in practice the earnings base for calculating SG is not expected to change and the rate of 12 per cent is remaining constant. So an employee should generally receive the same amount of contributions in respect of their 2026/27 earnings as for 2025/26, assuming there is no change to their base pay.

However, because of the overlap between the current and new SG regimes, SMSF trustees can generally expect to receive significantly higher contributions in the transitional year of 2026/27.

The June quarter 2026 contributions are due by 28 July as Payday Super does not amend the due date determined under the existing rules. At the same time, Payday Super requires contributions be received by the superannuation fund no later than seven business days after payday. So in July, a fund could receive one, two or even more contributions in relation to July paydays for a particular member, as well as a payment equal to the three months’ contributions for June 2026 by 28 July. At the other end of the financial year, most or substantially all of the contributions referable to April to June 2027 will be paid by year end instead of being due on 28 July 2027. Potentially this member will receive almost three extra months’ worth of contributions during 2026/27 compared to most years.

The big risk to SMSF members is they may breach their concessional contributions cap for 2026/27 due to this transitional year overlap of requirements.

Currently, the concessional contribution cap for that year is $30,000. It is expected to increase to $32,500 from 1 July due to indexation linked to average weekly ordinary time earnings, or AWOTE, data.

The government has promised to introduce amendments to ensure individuals do not exceed their concessional contributions cap in 2026/27 as a result of the transition to Payday Super. While no details are yet known, this may take the form of a temporary increase in the cap. The tax commissioner also has an existing power to issue an excess contributions determination to disregard or reallocate contributions to another year where the cap is exceeded due to ‘special circumstances’. However, the legislation requires the individual to apply for a determination to be made and does not currently allow the commissioner to make a determination for a class of taxpayers on his own initiative.

Despite any temporary increase, fund members will also be at greater risk of breaching their 2026/27 cap if they salary sacrifice into superannuation.

Here is an example of how a member may breach the cap.

Jenny earns an annual salary of $240,000 in 2025/26 and 2026/27 from her employer, ABC Pty Ltd. Her only superannuation contributions are those from her employer associated with the SG.

For 2025/26, ABC is obliged to pay $7200 in SG contributions per quarter. As at 1 July 2026, ABC has not paid the June quarter 2026 contribution, which is due on 28 July.

For 2026/27, ABC is obliged to pay SG contributions of $28,800 for the entire year. ABC uses a fortnightly pay cycle and makes SG contributions in line with paydays. For simplicity of this example, assume the entirety of the $28,800 is received by Jenny’s superannuation fund within the 2027 income year.

The contributions counting towards Jenny’s concessional contributions cap in 2026/27 comprise the following:

• June quarter 2026 contribution $7200
• Fortnightly 2026/27 contributions $28,800

This comes to a contributions total of $36,000 and the combined effect of the June quarter 2026 contribution and the Payday Super requirement that most of the June 2027 quarter will be paid within the financial year, ignoring that the final fortnight’s payment may not be due until early July, means Jenny effectively receives around 15 months’ worth of contributions in a year and exceeds her concessional contributions cap of $32,500 by $3500.

As such, Jenny will breach her 2026/27 concessional contributions cap through no fault of her own. The breach is wholly due to the contribution deadlines that apply to her employer.

If the government introduces a temporary increase to the cap for 2026/27, the increase should be equal to at least the total amount of an individual’s June quarter 2026 contributions. In Jenny’s case this is $7200. Doing so will mean an individual is not disadvantaged if the sum of their mandatory employer contributions for the year is equal or very close to the cap amount before any temporary adjustment.

If Jenny also salary sacrifices in superannuation, she would have to carefully review these arrangements to ensure she does not breach the cap even if it is temporarily increased.

Letty Chen is tax and super adviser at the Institute of Public Accountants.