Key dates, contribution caps and practical strategies worth considering before 30 June each year.
The lead-up to 30 June is a useful checkpoint for almost everyone's finances — not just for tax, but as a natural prompt to review your super, investments and insurance before the new financial year begins. None of this is a substitute for advice tailored to your situation (and contribution caps and thresholds are adjusted periodically), but the checklist below covers the areas worth thinking about each year.
Super remains one of the most tax-effective ways to build retirement savings, but contribution caps apply each financial year and unused amounts don't always carry forward indefinitely. Before 30 June, it's worth reviewing:
Towards the end of the financial year, it's also worth reviewing your investment portfolio for tax purposes — for example, whether realising any capital losses to offset gains makes sense, and whether any planned investment changes are better made before or after 30 June. We don't recommend making investment decisions purely for tax reasons, but tax timing is a legitimate factor to weigh up alongside your overall strategy.
EOFY is also a natural prompt to check that your insurance cover (life, TPD, income protection) still matches your circumstances, and that your superannuation death benefit nomination is up to date and still binding if that's how it was originally set up. These are easy things to overlook for years at a time.
The Australian financial year doesn't always align neatly with the tax year in your country of residence, which can make EOFY planning more complex for expats. Contribution eligibility, residency status and any reporting obligations in your country of residence should all be considered together. If you're unsure how this applies to you, it's worth a conversation before 30 June rather than after.
If you're at or approaching Age Pension age, EOFY can also be a good time to review how your super, investments and any other assets interact with Centrelink's income and assets tests — see our Social Security page for more on this.
Contributions generally need to be received by your super fund — not just sent — by 30 June to count for that financial year. Bank transfers can take a few business days to clear, so it's best not to leave contributions until the last day.
If your total super balance is below the relevant threshold, you may be able to use unused concessional contribution cap amounts from up to five previous financial years, potentially allowing a larger contribution in a single year.
Either can work, but reviewing a few weeks before 30 June gives you time to act on any contribution opportunities before the deadline, rather than discovering them afterwards.
Superannuation & SMSF Advice · Retirement Planning · Back to Resources
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