If you're a sole trader, contractor, or otherwise self-employed in Australia, you can make personal super contributions and claim them as a tax deduction — up to the concessional contributions cap of $30,000 for the 2025-26 financial year. This is one of the most underused EOFY levers for self-employed Australians.
The $30,000 cap is total — it includes any super your employer pays for you (if you're also an employee somewhere), plus any salary-sacrificed amounts, plus any personal contributions you claim a deduction on. If you're purely self-employed with no employer super, the full $30,000 is available to you. If you have a part-time job paying you super, subtract that from $30,000 to see your remaining personal-deductible headroom.
Two non-negotiable steps to claim the deduction. First, the contribution must clear into your super fund by 30 June 2026 (the same "fund actually receives it" rule that applies to employee super — see our Q4 super timing article). Second, you must lodge a Notice of Intent to Claim a Deduction with your super fund before you lodge your tax return, AND before you withdraw or roll over any of the contribution. The Notice is typically a one-page form available on every super fund's website. Without it, the contribution counts as a non-concessional (after-tax) contribution and you get no deduction.
Carry-forward unused cap. If your total super balance was under $500,000 on 30 June 2025, you may also be able to use unused cap from previous years (the catch-up concessional rule). This is checked automatically by the ATO when you lodge — but you don't know whether you have headroom until you check your myGov super balance and concessional history.
Timing recommendation. Don't wait for 30 June. Make the contribution by mid-June so it clears in time, lodge the Notice of Intent in early July, then lodge your tax return claiming the deduction. The Notice can be lodged any time before your tax return as long as the contribution hasn't been touched.
Why this is one of the highest-value EOFY actions for sole traders. A $30,000 deduction at the 32.5% marginal rate saves $9,750 in tax. The contribution is taxed at 15% inside the fund, so net you're ahead by roughly $5,250 versus simply paying tax on the income — and the money compounds tax-advantaged inside super for the rest of your working life. For higher-income sole traders at the 37% or 45% bracket, the saving is even larger.