First Home Super Saver Scheme
(FHSS) Calculator AU 2026-27

FHSS is an Australian Tax Office (ATO) scheme that lets first-home buyers contribute voluntarily to super and then release those contributions plus deemed earnings to fund a home deposit. The advantage: contributions inside super are taxed at 15% rather than your marginal rate (15-47%).

For a $90,000 earner in 30% bracket, $15,000 salary sacrifice into FHSS saves $2,250 in tax upfront (30% − 15% = 15% × $15k). Released amount is taxed at your marginal rate minus a 30% offset on concessional contributions.

Introduced 1 July 2017; lifetime cap raised from $30,000 to $50,000 on 1 July 2022.

Two limits: (1) Annual: $15,000 of voluntary super contributions per financial year (salary sacrifice + personal deductible). Standard concessional cap of $32,500 FY 2026-27 (indexed up from $30,000 on 1 July 2026) still applies — your $15,000 FHSS contribution counts within that $32.5k overall cap, so you have $17.5k of headroom for other concessional contributions. (2) Lifetime: $50,000 total FHSS contributions released across your lifetime.

Raised from $30,000 to $50,000 on 1 July 2022. The lifetime cap is on RELEASED contributions, not total voluntary contributions — if you contributed $60,000 voluntarily and released only $50,000, the remaining $10,000 stays in super under standard rules.

Most users contribute the $15k annual max for 3+ years to reach the $50k lifetime cap.

The ATO uses a deemed earnings rate to calculate growth on your FHSS contributions — currently the Shortfall Interest Charge (SIC) rate. It is 7.51% p.a. for the quarter beginning 1 October 2026 — a daily rate of 0.02057534%, because the ATO compounds SIC daily rather than annually, which makes the effective annual rate 7.80%.

The ATO resets it every quarter and publishes the next quarter's rate about two weeks before it starts, so check the current figure before relying on it. This is NOT your actual super fund's returns — it's a notional rate the ATO applies.

Your actual super fund might return more (which the fund keeps) or less (you still get the deemed earnings). 30 days from your first voluntary contribution to the date of release determines the earnings period. For the full $50,000 contributed over 4 years at the 7.51% quarterly rate compounded daily, accumulated earnings land between about $7,400 and $11,900 on top of the $50,000 — the spread is entirely contribution timing, with year-end contributions at the low end and start-of-year at the high end.

This calculator assumes start-of-year contributions, so it shows the favourable end.

Two steps, and the second is the one most sources get wrong. First, what comes out: 85% of your eligible concessional contributions (the other 15% is the contributions tax your fund already paid) or 100% of non-concessional contributions, plus the deemed associated earnings.

Second, what is taxed: the assessable amount is the concessional contributions released plus the associated earnings on both concessional and non-concessional contributions — so non-concessional contributions themselves come out tax-free, but their earnings do not. That assessable amount is included in your tax return for the financial year in which you requested the release, taxed at your marginal rate, and reduced by a non-refundable 30% FHSS tax offset.

It is not 30% withheld that later reconciles against your full marginal rate. Worked example: a $90,000 earner contributing $15,000 a year for four years hits the $50,000 lifetime cap, releases $42,500 of contributions plus about $10,090 of earnings, and has roughly $1,050 withheld — about 2%, because a 30% marginal rate plus 2% Medicare less the 30% offset leaves 2%.

The release is added to that year's income, though, so a large one can cross into a higher bracket and cost more at lodgement than was withheld.

Usually a few per cent of the amount. Example: on a $100,000 taxable income, withdrawing $50,000 of FHSS savings that came from salary sacrifice.

The ATO withholds 2% — $1,000 — because your 30% marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare levy, less the 30% offset, leaves 2%. In your tax return the $50,000 is added to that year's income, so $15,000 of it falls in the 37% bracket: income tax and Medicare on the release come to $17,050, the 30% offset removes $15,000, and the tax is about $2,050 — 4.1% of the release, or about $1,050 more to pay at lodgement than was withheld.

It is taxed in the financial year you request the release, not the year the money arrives. Assumes no other income or deductions and 2026-27 resident rates.

Non-concessional (after-tax) contributions come out tax-free; only their earnings are taxed.

It reduces your super only by what the released money would have grown to. The release is your voluntary contributions plus their deemed earnings; your employer's Super Guarantee is not eligible and stays in super.

Releasing $50,000 at 30 means about $291,000 less at 67; at 40, about $181,000 less — in today's dollars, assuming a 7.5% return and 2.5% inflation, which is an assumption, not a forecast. But that is the cost against leaving the money in super.

Against the real alternative — saving the deposit in a bank account — FHSS costs your retirement nothing, because that money was never going to stay in super, and it usually leaves you with a bigger deposit. To build a deposit without touching retirement savings you already have, use only new voluntary contributions, keep within the $15,000 a year and $50,000 total limits, and keep your employer contributions going.

The ATO withholds tax before paying you, at a rate it nominates in your release request: your expected marginal tax rate including the 2% Medicare levy, minus the 30% FHSS tax offset — or a flat 17% if it cannot estimate your marginal rate. You can vary the rate in the request.

In practice that is 0% in the 15% bracket, about 2% in the 30% bracket, 9% in the 37% bracket and 17% in the 45% bracket. Withholding is only an estimate: the ATO recalculates the tax at your actual marginal rate when you lodge the return for the year you requested the release, credits what was withheld and applies the 30% offset.

The ATO's own example: a $9,350 assessable release with $1,589 withheld (17%) and a $2,805 offset (30%).

Requirements at release time: (1) Aged 18 or older. (2) Never owned property in Australia (any property — including vacant land, residential, commercial, even part-ownership) — with limited exception for severe financial hardship. (3) Intend to live in the property as your principal place of residence within 12 months of purchase (or as soon as practical) for at least 6 of the first 12 months of ownership. (4) Have not previously requested an FHSS release. Joint purchasers can each apply if both are first-home buyers — combined household FHSS access $100,000.

Living in the property requirement disqualifies pure investment purchases but is satisfied by 'live then rent' if the 6-month occupation condition is met.

Voluntary contributions only: (1) Salary sacrifice (pre-tax, employer-arranged) — concessional, taxed 15% inside super, released as concessional. (2) Personal deductible contributions (Notice of Intent submitted, deduction claimed on tax return) — concessional, identical tax treatment. (3) Personal non-concessional contributions (post-tax from your bank account) — released tax-free (you already paid tax). NOT eligible: employer Super Guarantee (SG) at 12% (mandatory, not voluntary); spouse contributions; government co-contribution; downsizer contributions (60+ only).

Choose contribution type to match tax outcome: high earners maximize concessional for 15% inside-super tax; low earners may use non-concessional for tax-free release.

Three steps, all in ATO online services through myGov (Super, then Manage, then First home saver). (1) Request an FHSS determination — the ATO tells you your maximum release amount, pre-filled from what your fund reported; check the contribution dates and amounts, because errors delay or cancel the release. (2) Request the release, choosing the amount, the fund(s) and your bank account. You can only submit one release request. (3) Receive the money: the ATO says it generally takes 15 to 20 business days from the release request, after tax is withheld and any Commonwealth debts are offset.

Timing rule: for determinations made on or after 15 September 2024 you can request the release before signing a contract, or within 90 days after signing — a valid request made later than that is subject to FHSS tax. After the release request you have 12 months to sign a contract to buy or build, which the ATO generally extends to a maximum of 24 months without an application, and you must notify the ATO within 90 days of signing.

You don't lose the money, but you can face FHSS tax. If you have not signed a contract to buy or build within 12 months of your release request (or the extended period — the ATO generally grants a further 12 months, to a 24-month maximum, without you applying), you must do one of two things. (a) Recontribute at least your assessable FHSS released amount less the tax withheld (shown on your FHSS payment summary) into super as a non-concessional contribution, with no deduction, and notify the ATO within 12 months of the release request — this avoids FHSS tax, but you cannot use the FHSS scheme again. (b) Keep the money and pay FHSS tax: a flat 20% of your assessable FHSS released amount, on top of the income tax already applied to it.

On a $52,586 assessable release that is about $10,517. Not notifying the ATO counts as keeping the money.

Yes — FHSS is per-individual, not per-couple. Each partner can contribute and release independently.

Combined first-home deposit: up to $100,000 ($50k × 2). Both partners must be first-home buyers (neither has previously owned property) and both must intend to live in the property.

Application is separate (each person applies via their own myGov for their own determination), but the same property purchase is fine — couples typically time releases together. Single FHSS user buying jointly with a non-first-home buyer: only the first-home buyer can access FHSS; the partner's share comes from other sources.

Mechanics-based answer, not advice — and the comparison only means something if both sides start from the SAME pre-tax salary. Example: a $90,000 earner on a 32% marginal rate (30% plus the 2% Medicare levy) directing $15,000 of PRE-TAX salary a year for 3 years, contributions counted at each year end.

OUTSIDE SUPER: $15,000 of salary is taxed at 32% first, leaving $10,200 a year to save. At 4% interest that grows to about $31,840, of which $1,240 is interest; tax on the interest at 32% is about $397, leaving roughly $31,443.

VIA FHSS: the same $15,000 salary-sacrificed is taxed at 15% going in, so $12,750 a year enters super — $38,250 contributed. Deemed earnings at the 7.51% SIC rate, compounded daily as the ATO does, add about $3,060, giving a release of roughly $41,310.

The released amount is assessable at your marginal rate LESS A 30% TAX OFFSET, so the effective rate here is 32% − 30% = 2%, or about $826 of tax, leaving roughly $40,484. FHSS delivers about $9,000 more.

The 30% offset is what drives this, and it is why FHSS beats an equivalent bank account across essentially the whole income range rather than only at high incomes — the two tax breaks (15% going in, 30% offset coming out) both work in your favour. What it costs you is flexibility: the money is locked in super unless you buy a first home.

Timing matters too — contributing earlier in each year increases the deemed earnings. Always run your own numbers.