What’s a downsizer contribution?
If you're 55 or over, you might be able to add up to $300,000 to your super tax-free when selling a property you've lived in. This is called a downsizer contribution.
If your spouse is also 55 or older, you can add up to $600,000 in total between the two of you under the same downsizer contribution rules.
What does downsizing mean?
Downsizing is when you sell your current home and move to a smaller one. But you don't have to buy a new, smaller home when you make a downsizer contribution.
Downsizer contribution benefits
After-tax contribution
It's an after-tax contribution, so you don't pay the 15% contributions tax when you add it to your super.
Doesn't affect contribution caps
Downsizer contributions don't count towards any of the contribution caps that limit how much you can add to your super.
Up to $600,000 for couples
If you have a spouse who's also 55 or older, you can both make downsizer super contributions up to $600,000 total.
No maximum super balance
It doesn't matter how much you have in your super. You can make a downsizer contribution even if your total super balance is over $1.9 million.
No work test required
You don't need to be working when you make a downsizer contribution, because there's no work test.
Can turn it into retirement income
Once the money is in your super account, you can turn it into retirement income with an Income account and/or our Lifetime Pension once you turn age 60.
Downsizer contribution eligibility
To give your super a boost with the downsizer contribution, you need to meet these requirements from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO):
You're 55 years or older (there's no maximum age limit)
Your home is in Australia and is not a caravan, houseboat, or other mobile home
Your contract of sale was on or after 1 July 2018
The contribution must be made within 90 days of the sale of your home, which is usually settlement date
You or your spouse owned the property for more than 10 years before selling it
You lived in the home, and it was exempt (wholly or partly) from capital gains tax under the main residence exemption (or would have been entitled to the exemption but isn't a capital gains tax asset because it was acquired before 20 September 1985)
You haven't already made a downsizer contribution from selling another home
You provided your super fund with the Downsizer contribution into super form either before or at the time of making your downsizer contribution.
Talk to an adviser about downsizing
As a member with us, you can get tailored financial advice about your ART account.1
How to make a downsizer contribution
Before you make your contribution, you need to fill in the ATO's downsizer contribution form and send it to us before or when you make your contribution.
Complete the form
Download and fill in the ATO's Downsizer contribution into super form, or call us to have a copy posted to you.
Send it to us
You can send us the downsizer contribution form by email, post/mail, or in person – check out our contact us page for details. If you're mailing the form to us, please allow extra time for us to get it before you make your contribution.
Make the contribution
Once you've checked how much you can contribute, there are a few ways you can deposit it into your super:
- Log in to Member Online and choose direct debit
- Get a BPAY® biller code and pay direct from your bank account
- Send us a cheque with your downsizer contribution form
Case study
Taylor and Lee are both over 60 and they've just sold the family home they lived in for more than 10 years.
If their house sells for $950,000, they could add up to $300,000 each to their super accounts.
If their house sold for only $500,000, they could contribute up to $250,000 each to their super. Or they could top up the account with the lower balance by splitting the contributions – adding $300,000 to one and $200,000 to the other.
FAQs about the downsizer contribution rules
