The short answer is that they don’t get the benefit of the increase.

For example, Frank made non-concessional contributions of $200,000 in 2023–24. His total super balance was less than $1.68 million at 30 June 2023 so this locked in a three-year bring forward period for him (1 July 2023 – 30 June 2026). At the time, this was set at $330,000 so he has $130,000 left to contribute in the two remaining years (2024–25 and 2025–26).

Even though the annual cap will actually be higher in those last two years, nothing changes for Frank.

It’s why at times like this – when contribution caps are increasing – people often think carefully about exactly when to trigger their bring forward. If Frank, for example, was making his contribution decisions in March 2024, he might have chosen to contribute only $110,000 in 2023–24 and save his bring forward for next year. That would give him $360,000 to play with in 2024–25 (i.e., the full benefit of the cap increase). Given that caps don’t increase every year, delaying triggering a bring forward can be well worth doing at the right times.

But not everything stays the same for Frank during his 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2026 bring forward period.

Remember that there is one special rule for people like Frank who are already in a bring-forward period and have two years left to contribute their remaining $130,000. For Frank to be able to utilise his remaining $130,000 in 2024–25 without breaching his non-concessional contribution cap, his total super balance has to be less than the general transfer balance cap ($1.9 million) at 30 June 2024. The same would apply in 2025–26 if he’s still got some of his cap left.

The general transfer balance cap will likely increase to $2 million from 1 July 2025. Frank will benefit from this particular increase. If he’s still looking to make some of these contributions in his final bring-forward year of 2025–26, the threshold he has to watch will be $2 million, not $1.9 million.

That could be beneficial if Frank left the remainder of his contributions to the last year and his balance has increased a lot in the meantime.