When you work for someone else, your employer pays super into your fund without you thinking about it. When you go out on your own as a sole trader, that stops. Nobody has to pay super for you, and it's easy to let years go by without a contribution.
At the same time, if you take on an apprentice, an employee or a subcontractor who works mainly for their labour, you may have to pay super for them, and the rules for employers changed on 1 July 2026 with Payday Super. This guide covers both sides as at November 2026, with links to the ATO. It's general information only, so talk to your fund, a registered tax agent or a licensed financial adviser about your own situation.
Super for yourself as a sole trader
The ATO's page on super for sole traders and partnerships is clear: if you're self-employed as a sole trader or in a partnership, you don't have to pay super guarantee for yourself. Contributing is your choice.
That's different if you run your business through a company and the company pays you wages as an employee. Then the company may have super obligations for you. See sole trader vs company for the differences between structures.
Making personal contributions
As a sole trader, you can pay money from your after-tax income straight into your super fund, for example by bank transfer. The ATO calls these personal super contributions.
Make sure your fund has your tax file number. The ATO warns that if it doesn't, contributions are taxed an extra 32%, your fund may not accept personal contributions, and you may miss out on a co-contribution.
Claiming a tax deduction
Most people can claim a tax deduction for personal super contributions until they turn 75, subject to the ATO's conditions. If you claim a deduction:
- the contribution becomes a concessional contribution and is taxed in the fund at 15%, rather than at your marginal rate, and
- it counts towards your concessional contributions cap.
To claim, you must give your fund a notice of intent to claim a deduction in the approved form, and get an acknowledgment from the fund, before you claim the deduction in your tax return. The ATO says the notice must be given by whichever comes first: the day you lodge your tax return for that year, or the end of the following income year. If you're aged 67 to 74, you also need to meet the work test (or an exemption) to claim the deduction.
The ATO lists conditions for a notice to be valid, including that you're still a member of the fund, so lodge it before you roll your super over to another fund. Don't leave it until your tax agent is lodging your return either: make it part of your June routine, and keep the acknowledgment with your tax records. The ATO's record-keeping rules mean you should keep tax records like this for 5 years.
The caps
The ATO's contributions caps page sets the general concessional contributions cap at $32,500 from 1 July 2026, up from $30,000 for 2024–25 and 2025–26. All concessional contributions to all your funds count towards it, including employer contributions and personal contributions you claim as a deduction.
If your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June of the previous year, you may be able to use unused cap amounts from up to 5 previous years. That can help in a good year after a few lean ones. Ask your tax agent to check what's available before you contribute.
Contributions over the cap attract extra tax. Higher earners should also know about Division 293 tax, which applies when your combined income and concessional contributions for Division 293 purposes are more than $250,000.
The co-contribution
If you're on a low to middle income and make personal contributions you don't claim as a deduction, you may be eligible for the government's super co-contribution. The ATO works it out when you lodge your tax return. If you claim a deduction for a contribution, that contribution isn't eligible for the co-contribution.
Super for your workers
Employees: 12% and Payday Super
The super guarantee rate is now 12%, after rising in steps from 9.25% in 2013–14:
Super guarantee rate for employees, 2013–14 to 2026–27
The super guarantee rate rose in steps from 9.25% to 12%, reached in 2025–26, and stays at 12%.
Show the figures as a table
| Financial year | Super guarantee rate |
|---|---|
| 2013–14 | 9.25% |
| 2014–15 to 2020–21 | 9.50% |
| 2021–22 | 10.00% |
| 2022–23 | 10.50% |
| 2023–24 | 11.00% |
| 2024–25 | 11.50% |
| 2025–26 | 12.00% |
| 2026–27 | 12.00% |
From 1 July 2026, under Payday Super, employers must pay super guarantee for each payday, worked out on each employee's qualifying earnings. The ATO's Payday Super payment deadlines say a contribution is on time if the employee's fund receives it, with the information it needs to allocate it, within 7 business days after you pay the employee. If you use a clearing house, allow time for it to process the payment. If you're late, you're liable for the super guarantee charge.
For earnings paid up to 30 June 2026, the old quarterly rules still apply.
Subcontractors paid mainly for their labour
This one catches trades out. The ATO's page on super for independent contractors says that if you pay independent contractors mainly for their labour, they're employees for super guarantee purposes, even if they have an ABN. That applies when the contract:
- is mainly for their labour (more than half the dollar value is for labour),
- pays them for their personal labour and skills, rather than for achieving a result, and
- requires them to do the work themselves (they can't delegate it).
If you contract with a company, trust or partnership instead, you don't have to pay super for the person they send to do the work. The ATO's example is a hobby shop that engages a painting business to paint the shop for a set result: the shop has no super obligation for the painter.
So if you have a regular offsider who invoices you by the hour with an ABN, check with your accountant whether you owe super.
Super for you, your employees and your subcontractors
Who pays super, and what applies, depends on who is doing the work.
| Who | What applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| You, as a sole trader or partner | No super guarantee for yourself. You can make personal contributions and may be able to claim a deduction (give your fund a notice of intent and get an acknowledgment first) | ATO, Super for sole traders and partnerships |
| Your employees | 12% super guarantee on qualifying earnings, received by their fund within 7 business days after payday (from 1 July 2026) | ATO, Super guarantee percentage; ATO, Payment deadlines for Payday Super |
| Contractors paid mainly for their labour | Treated as employees for super guarantee, even with an ABN, if the contract is mainly for their personal labour and they can't delegate it | ATO, Super for independent contractors |
| Contractors engaged through a company, trust or partnership | No super guarantee for the person doing the work (their business may owe it) | ATO, Super for independent contractors |
| Concessional contributions cap | $32,500 for 2026–27 (up from $30,000), covering employer contributions and personal contributions you claim as a deduction | ATO, Contributions caps |
Making it a habit
The hardest part of super for sole traders is remembering to do it. Some ideas:
- Pay yourself super as you go. When a customer pays, move a set percentage to a savings account for super, alongside your GST and tax money. Pay it into your fund each quarter or before 30 June.
- Lodge the notice of intent on time, and keep the fund's acknowledgment with your tax records.
- Check your cap, including any unused amounts, before making a large contribution.
- Review insurance in super. Many funds offer life, TPD and income protection cover. See our guide to insurance for tradies.
- Set up payroll for employees properly, with super paid on payday through your payroll or accounting software.
Tradie Business helps with the records behind wages and super. Timesheets are kept per person and job, approved weekly, and exported as a payroll CSV for your payroll software or bookkeeper. Tradie Business doesn't run payroll or pay super itself. See the features and pricing, and our guides to BAS for sole traders and bookkeeping for tradies.
Super checklist
- Accept that nobody else will pay your super, and decide how much you'll contribute.
- Make sure your fund has your TFN.
- If you want a deduction, lodge a notice of intent and get the acknowledgment before claiming.
- Stay within the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026–27, or use unused amounts if you're eligible.
- Pay employees' super for each payday, within 7 business days.
- Check whether any ABN contractors are paid mainly for their labour.
