The general transfer balance cap — the limit on how much super can be moved into a tax-free retirement pension — rose from $2.0 million to $2.1 million on 1 July 2026. The increase also lifts several related contribution and eligibility thresholds.
Key facts
| What changed | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| General transfer balance cap | $2.0m | $2.1m |
| New pension starters from 1 July 2026 | — | Personal cap of $2.1m |
| Existing pension members | — | Proportional increase based on unused cap space |
| Updated caps visible on ATO online services | — | From 13 July 2026 |
Who gets the full $2.1 million cap
Anyone starting a retirement phase pension for the first time on or after 1 July 2026 gets the full new personal transfer balance cap of $2.1 million. This is the maximum amount that can be moved from accumulation into a tax-free pension account over your lifetime, though your own balance may be well below that figure. Amounts above your personal cap can stay in accumulation phase, where earnings are taxed at up to 15%, or be withdrawn as a lump sum — they simply can't be converted into the tax-free retirement phase environment once your cap is reached.
How existing pension members are affected
If you already started a pension before 1 July 2026 and have unused cap space, you get a proportional increase to your personal cap, based on the highest balance your transfer account has ever reached. Members who have already used their full $2.0 million cap don't get any extra room — the indexation only benefits those with unused capacity. The ATO calculates each member's proportional indexation individually using their transfer balance account history, and updated personal caps aren't expected to display in ATO online services until 13 July 2026, so there can be a short lag before your exact figure is confirmed.
Flow-on effects to contribution caps
The transfer balance cap increase also lifts the total super balance (TSB) threshold used to determine eligibility for non-concessional contributions, which rises in step to $2.1 million. This links directly to the wider 2026-27 contribution cap increases, including higher concessional and non-concessional contribution limits. In practice, the transfer balance cap is the ceiling that ultimately limits how much of a growing super balance can ever be converted into a tax-free income stream, so its increase matters most for members already close to or above the previous $2.0 million limit.
Why the cap is indexed at all
The transfer balance cap is indexed periodically in $100,000 increments to keep pace with broader movements in average balances and cost of living, rather than being reviewed and adjusted every year. The jump from $2.0 million to $2.1 million on 1 July 2026 is the latest of these periodic increases, following a similar pattern to earlier indexation events since the cap was first introduced. Because indexation only applies to the general cap and each member's personal cap is calculated proportionally, two people who started a pension in different years can end up with different personal transfer balance caps even though the general cap is the same figure for everyone from that point forward.
What this means for your pay
The transfer balance cap mostly matters as you approach retirement rather than during your working years, but it's a useful marker of how super thresholds are moving overall. Track your projected balance against the new cap with our superannuation calculator, and if you're a high-income earner, see how it interacts with other thresholds on our Division 293 tax guide.