First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS) 2026 — How It Works, Limits & How to Apply

Saving a house deposit is the single biggest financial hurdle most first home buyers face. You need $60,000, $80,000, sometimes $120,000 or more, all while paying rent, living your life, and watching prices climb.

There's a government scheme that can put you thousands of dollars ahead of where you'd be saving in a bank account, and most Australians either don't know about it or don't fully understand it. It's the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS), and it lets you save for your deposit inside your superannuation fund, with the tax savings that come with super.

We don't run a super fund, so this is the honest version, including the bits the banks and funds tend to skip over and the situations where the FHSS isn't worth the hassle. We'll cover how the FHSS works in 2026, the contribution limits, who's eligible, the real numbers with worked examples, the couples strategy for combining up to $100,000, and exactly how to apply and withdraw without losing your eligibility.

If you want to see where the FHSS fits into the whole deposit journey, our first home buyer journey maps it out, and you can track your progress with the free deposit tracker.

Can I use my super to buy a house? What the FHSS actually is

Yes, in a limited and very specific way. The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets first home buyers make extra voluntary contributions into super, then later withdraw most of those contributions plus earnings to put towards a deposit. The ATO runs it, it launched on 1 July 2017, and you can contribute up to $15,000 a year, capped at $50,000 across your lifetime.

Here's the point that trips people up: the FHSS is a planned, lawful release of money you chose to put in. It is not the hardship or compassionate "early release of super" you might have heard about. You can't touch the compulsory super your employer pays you (the super guarantee). The only money the FHSS lets you get back is the extra you voluntarily added on top, through salary sacrifice or personal contributions.

So this isn't free money, and it isn't a handout. It's your own money, saved smarter. By routing it through super you pay less tax on the way in, and the ATO gives you a tax break on the way out.

Is the FHSS worth it? The honest pros and cons

For most people in the 30% tax bracket or above who are genuinely close to buying, yes, the FHSS is worth it. It can save several thousand dollars a year in tax compared with saving the same money in a bank account. But it locks you into a process and a 12-month deadline once you withdraw, so it's a poor fit if you're years away from buying or on a low marginal tax rate.

The pros

• Your contributions are taxed at 15% going in, instead of your marginal rate of 30% to 47%. That gap is the saving.
• The ATO applies a 30% tax offset on the way out, so the tax you pay when you withdraw is small.
• Couples, friends or siblings buying together can each use their own $50,000, stacking up to roughly $100,000 of contributions plus earnings.
• It stacks with the First Home Guarantee, first home owner grants and stamp duty concessions. It doesn't replace them.

The cons (the bits the funds don't lead with)

• Once you withdraw, you have 12 months to sign a contract to buy or build, or you recontribute the money or pay tax on it.
• You only get one go at the scheme, ever. One release request and that's it.
• The ATO release takes weeks, not days, so the timing matters if you're bidding at auction.
• Once you've requested the release, the money is in the pipeline and you can't easily change course.
• If you're on a low marginal tax rate, the saving is small, and if you're not actually close to buying, you're locking money away for little benefit.

If you're not sure whether you even qualify yet, the free first home buyer eligibility checker is a good 60-second sanity check before you read on.

FHSS contribution limits 2026

Under the FHSS you can put up to $15,000 a year into super, capped at $50,000 across your lifetime. Those are the two numbers that matter.

Here's the detail behind them:

• Annual limit: $15,000 per financial year in eligible voluntary contributions.
• Lifetime maximum: $50,000 in total eligible contributions, up from $30,000 since 1 July 2022.
• Concessional cap interaction: your FHSS contributions count towards your overall concessional (before-tax) contributions cap, which also includes your employer's super guarantee. That cap is $30,000 for 2025-26, and it rises to $32,500 from 1 July 2026 for the 2026-27 financial year.

That cap interaction catches people out. If your employer pays $12,000 a year in super guarantee, you have $18,000 of your $30,000 concessional cap left for 2025-26, but only $15,000 of that can count towards the FHSS in a single year. From 1 July 2026 you'll have a little more headroom as the cap moves to $32,500.

Here's what a three-year FHSS savings plan can look like:

After three years that's $38,250 in net contributions, plus associated earnings calculated by the ATO. With those earnings, a withdrawal after three years typically lands around $40,000 to $42,000.

To reach the full $50,000 lifetime cap you'd contribute $15,000 a year for three years ($45,000) plus a partial fourth year. Most buyers contribute for three or four years before withdrawing.

How much can you save? A worked FHSS example

Here's the maths on a realistic scenario, so you can see the actual dollar difference against saving in a bank account. Treat the figures as approximate; your own numbers will depend on your exact income and timing.

Single person earning $90,000, contributing $15,000 a year for three years

Saving in a bank account: to put aside $15,000 of pre-tax salary, you first pay tax on it. On a 30% marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare levy, that's about $4,800 in tax, leaving you $10,200 to bank. Over three years you'd save around $30,600 (ignoring interest).

Saving through the FHSS: you put $15,000 a year into super. It's taxed at just 15% ($2,250), leaving $12,750 in your fund. Over three years that's $38,250 in contributions, plus associated earnings. When you withdraw, the released amount is taxed at your marginal rate with a 30% offset, so the net result after three years is roughly $40,000 to $42,000.

One thing the fund pages rarely spell out: on the way out, the ATO doesn't release every dollar. It calculates your maximum release amount as 100% of your eligible non-concessional (after-tax) contributions, plus 85% of your eligible concessional (before-tax) contributions, plus associated earnings. The 85% reflects the 15% contributions tax already paid inside super. It then applies the 30% offset to the taxable part. The dollar estimates above already account for this, but it's worth understanding why your release figure won't be a clean $45,000.

Over the whole three years, the FHSS puts you roughly $10,000 to $12,000 ahead of banking the same pre-tax dollars. The gap is entirely tax. The higher your marginal rate, the bigger it gets: someone on $150,000 in the 37% bracket saves more again.

You can track your FHSS progress alongside the rest of your deposit in the deposit tracker, and once you know your number, the borrowing power calculator shows what it means for how much you can actually borrow.

FHSS for couples: how to combine up to $100,000

This is one of the genuinely powerful parts of the scheme, and plenty of buyers miss it: each person gets their own $50,000. Buying together, that's a combined total of up to $100,000 in contributions, plus earnings, going towards your deposit. And it's not limited to married or de facto couples; friends or siblings buying a home together can each access their own entitlement too.

Here's how it works for a couple both earning $80,000:

• Each person contributes up to $15,000 a year.
• Each can withdraw up to $50,000 in contributions, plus associated earnings.
• Over three years, their combined withdrawals can total roughly $80,000 to $84,000, compared with about $61,000 saving outside super.
• That's in the order of $20,000 in combined tax savings.

For a lot of buyers, $20,000 is the difference between a 10% and a 15% deposit, which can mean avoiding Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) altogether. Our LMI calculator shows what that premium would cost you on your loan.

The rules for couples:

• Each person has to meet eligibility on their own. You're assessed individually.
• If one of you has previously owned property, the other can still use the FHSS, as long as they've never owned property themselves.
• You don't have to be married or de facto. Each person's access is completely independent.
• You can combine your two withdrawals into the same purchase.

If you're buying as a couple, make sure both of you are contributing. Leaving one partner's $50,000 on the table is the most common missed opportunity we see.

FHSS eligibility: who can use the scheme?

To use the FHSS in 2026 you must be 18 or older, have never owned property in Australia, and have never used the scheme before. Eligibility is assessed per person, not per household, so each partner in a couple is judged on their own.

The full criteria:

• At least 18 years old when you request your determination or release from the ATO.
• Never owned property in Australia. That includes investment properties, holiday homes, commercial property and vacant land. If you've owned any real property here, even one you never lived in, you're generally not eligible.
• Never previously requested a release of FHSS amounts. You get one go at the scheme.
• The home must be residential and in Australia, and you need to intend to live in it for at least 6 of the first 12 months after it's practical to do so. It can't be an investment property.
• Only voluntary contributions count. Your employer's compulsory super guarantee can't be withdrawn. Only salary sacrifice, personal deductible contributions and voluntary after-tax contributions qualify.

There's one exception worth knowing about. If you previously owned a home but lost ownership of all your property because of financial hardship, such as bankruptcy, divorce or separation, loss of employment, a natural disaster or serious illness, the ATO may grant a "financial hardship" determination so that prior ownership doesn't count against you. You'd need to apply with a dedicated FHSS hardship form and provide evidence, and you can't have bought another property since. If this might apply to you, check it directly with the ATO before you start, because the decision is theirs.

Not sure where you stand? Run the eligibility checker first.

How to apply for and withdraw your FHSS savings, step by step

Applying for and withdrawing your FHSS savings means a few separate steps and a couple of interactions with the ATO. Get the order wrong and it can cost you your eligibility, so here's exactly what to do.

Step 1: Lodge a Notice of Intent to Claim (only if you made personal contributions)

If you made personal after-tax contributions and want to claim them as a tax deduction, you must lodge a Notice of Intent to Claim a Tax Deduction with your super fund before you request your FHSS determination. Skip it and those contributions won't be treated as concessional, and you lose the tax benefit. You don't need this step if you salary sacrificed; your employer handles that.

Step 2: Request an FHSS determination from the ATO

Log into myGov and go to the ATO's FHSS section to request a determination. This tells you the maximum amount you can withdraw, based on your eligible contributions and associated earnings. Processing usually takes a couple of weeks. People often ask whether to get the determination before or after an auction: get it well before. You want certainty about your number before you're standing in front of one.

Critical: don't sign a property contract before you have your determination. Signing first can make you ineligible.

Step 3: Submit a release request

Once you have your determination and you're ready to go, submit a release request through myGov. The ATO then instructs your super fund to release the amount.

Step 4: Wait for the funds to come through

Your super fund has 10 business days to send the money to the ATO. The ATO deducts any withholding tax and pays the rest into your nominated bank account. Allow several weeks for the whole thing, and longer at busy times of year. The fund's 10-business-day step is fixed, but the total varies, so don't plan to the day.

Step 5: Sign your contract within 12 months

You must sign a contract to buy or build your first home within 12 months of requesting the release. If you need more time, you can ask the ATO for a 12-month extension, but that's at the Commissioner's discretion.

Step 6: Notify the ATO within 28 days of signing

Once you've signed, you have 28 days to tell the ATO. It's a legal requirement. If you don't end up buying, you either recontribute the money to super or pay a flat 20% FHSS tax on the withdrawn amount.

Timing tip: because the release takes weeks, submit your request well before any auction or settlement deadline, so the cash is sitting in your account when you need it. A good mortgage broker and conveyancer can help you line up the release timing against your settlement.

FHSS tax treatment: how much tax do you pay?

How the FHSS is taxed depends on the type of contribution.

Concessional contributions (salary sacrifice or personal deductible)

Going in: taxed at 15% contributions tax inside your super fund.

Coming out: included in your assessable income, but with a 30% tax offset. In effect you pay your marginal rate minus 30 percentage points. For someone on a 32% marginal rate, the effective tax on the withdrawal is about 2%.

Non-concessional contributions (voluntary after-tax, no deduction claimed)

Going in: no tax, because you've already paid income tax on this money.

Coming out: no tax. The contribution comes back tax-free.

Associated earnings

The ATO doesn't pay you your fund's actual investment return on FHSS money. Instead it calculates associated earnings using the shortfall interest charge (SIC) rate, which is the 90-day bank bill rate plus about 3 percentage points. The ATO resets it every quarter. For the April to June 2026 quarter it's 6.96%, so it's been sitting in the high 6% range recently rather than anything dramatic. Always check the current SIC rate, because it moves. These earnings are taxed the same way as concessional contributions: your marginal rate minus the 30% offset.

Whichever contribution type you use, the FHSS reliably beats saving in a bank account. Concessional contributions give the biggest advantage, because you win twice: 15% going in and the 30% offset coming out.

Salary sacrifice vs personal contributions for FHSS

There are two ways to make concessional contributions under the FHSS. They reach the same tax result, but they work differently day to day.

Salary sacrifice

Your employer takes the contribution out of your pre-tax pay and sends it to your fund. It's simple to set up; you just talk to payroll. The catch is timing: it follows your employer's payment cycle, and some employers only pay super quarterly.

Personal contributions with a tax deduction

You pay after-tax money straight into your fund from your bank account, then lodge a Notice of Intent to Claim a Tax Deduction and claim it at tax time. This gives you full control of the timing and the amount.

What we'd lean towards: personal contributions with a deduction, for the control. With salary sacrifice, payroll changes can lag, and quarterly super timing can blur which financial year a contribution lands in. With a personal contribution you can transfer a lump sum on 28 June and know exactly which year it counts towards, which matters when you're trying to use your full $15,000 for the year.

Whichever you choose, keep records of every contribution and make sure your fund categorises them correctly. Mistakes here can mean a contribution isn't eligible to withdraw.

Common FHSS mistakes to avoid

The FHSS is powerful, but it has traps that can cost you money or stall your purchase. These are the ones we see most.

1. Signing a contract before getting your determination

This is the most damaging one. Sign a property contract before you request your determination and you may be ineligible. Get the determination first, then sign.

2. Going over the $15,000 annual limit

If you put in more than $15,000 of FHSS-eligible contributions in one financial year, the excess doesn't count towards the scheme. It stays in super but you can't withdraw it for your home. Track it carefully, especially if your employer's super guarantee timing is irregular.

3. Not lodging a Notice of Intent to Claim

If you made personal after-tax contributions and want them treated as concessional, lodge the Notice of Intent with your fund before you request your determination. Miss it and those contributions are treated as non-concessional, and you lose the 15% advantage on the way in.

4. Forgetting to notify the ATO within 28 days

After you sign, you have 28 days to tell the ATO. Miss it and you risk penalties. Set a reminder the day you sign.

5. Not allowing enough processing time

The release takes several weeks, and longer at busy times. If you're bidding at auction, you need the money in your account before auction day, not after. Submit your release request well in advance of any deadline.

6. Breaching the concessional cap

Your FHSS contributions count towards your concessional cap ($30,000 for 2025-26, rising to $32,500 from 1 July 2026). If your employer's super guarantee is $12,000 and you salary sacrifice $15,000, you've used $27,000 of the cap. Add any other salary sacrifice and you could tip over, which triggers excess contributions tax. Check your total concessional contributions each year.

FHSS vs saving in a regular account

Should you use the FHSS, or just save in a high-interest account? Here's the honest comparison.

Our take: if you're in the 30% bracket or above and you're fairly sure you'll buy within the next two to four years, the FHSS is almost always worth it. That $10,000-plus in tax savings is real money that brings your deposit date forward. But keep some savings outside super too, because you'll need accessible cash for building inspections, legal fees and moving costs that the FHSS money can't cover until it's released. A building inspection alone is money you'll want on hand before settlement.

If you're not sure how much deposit you actually need, work that out first, then use the FHSS to get there faster.

Stacking FHSS with other first home schemes

The FHSS works alongside other first home buyer programs. You don't have to pick one. The strongest combinations:

• FHSS plus the First Home Guarantee: use the FHSS to build your deposit, then buy with as little as a 5% deposit and no LMI through the First Home Guarantee. From 1 October 2025 the scheme changed significantly: income caps were scrapped, places are now uncapped, and property price caps were raised. So more buyers can use it than before.
• FHSS plus a first home owner grant: in WA, for example, the $10,000 grant for new builds sits on top of your FHSS savings. Check the grants in your state, or go straight to WA's grants.
• FHSS plus stamp duty concessions: first home buyer stamp duty exemptions and concessions apply whether or not you used the FHSS. Our stamp duty calculator shows what you'd pay.
• FHSS plus Keystart (WA): WA buyers can pair FHSS savings with a Keystart loan (2% deposit, no LMI), so the extra FHSS money becomes a buffer for settlement costs.

One thing to clear up: the FHSS is a federal scheme, so it's identical in every state and territory. There's no separate FHSS for QLD or WA. What actually changes by state is your grant and your stamp duty concession, which is why it's worth checking your state's grants separately.

The way to think about the FHSS is as a savings accelerator, not a loan or a grant. It helps you build your deposit faster through tax savings, and every other scheme stacks on top because each one solves a different part of the purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the First Home Super Saver Scheme work?

The FHSS lets you make extra voluntary contributions into super, up to $15,000 a year and $50,000 in total, then apply to the ATO to withdraw most of them for a first home deposit. You get the lower 15% super tax going in and a 30% tax offset coming out. The ATO releases 100% of your eligible after-tax contributions plus 85% of your before-tax contributions, plus associated earnings, then pays it to your bank account.

What are the FHSS contribution limits for 2026?

The FHSS limits in 2026 are $15,000 per financial year and $50,000 in total across your lifetime. The lifetime cap rose from $30,000 to $50,000 on 1 July 2022. These contributions count towards your overall concessional contributions cap, which is $30,000 for 2025-26 and rises to $32,500 from 1 July 2026, and that cap also includes your employer's super guarantee.

Can couples both use the FHSS scheme?

Yes. Each person can independently access their own $50,000, so a couple can put up to roughly $100,000 in contributions plus earnings towards a deposit. You don't have to be married or de facto; friends or siblings buying together can each use it too. Both people must meet eligibility on their own. If one has previously owned property, the other can still use the scheme.

Do I have to be a first home buyer to use the FHSS?

Yes. You must never have owned property in Australia, including residential, investment, commercial property or vacant land, to be eligible. There's no exception for property you owned only briefly or never lived in. The one narrow exception is a financial hardship determination from the ATO, where you lost all your property through circumstances like bankruptcy, divorce or illness.

How long does an FHSS withdrawal take?

Allow several weeks from your release request to the money landing in your account, and longer during busy periods. Your super fund has a fixed 10 business days to send the money to the ATO, then the ATO deducts any tax and pays you the balance. Because it isn't instant, submit your release request well before any auction or settlement deadline.

Is the FHSS worth it?

For most buyers in the 30% tax bracket or above who'll buy within the next few years, yes. The tax savings can run to several thousand dollars a year compared with a bank account. The trade-offs are the 12-month deadline to buy after withdrawing and the several-week release time. It's a weaker fit if you're on a low marginal rate or you're not actually close to buying.

Can I use the FHSS and the First Home Guarantee together?

Yes. They're separate schemes that work well together. Use the FHSS to build your deposit through tax-advantaged saving, then buy with as little as a 5% deposit and no LMI through the First Home Guarantee. As of 1 October 2025 the First Home Guarantee dropped its income caps, made places uncapped and raised its price caps, so it's open to more buyers than before.

What happens if I don't buy a home after withdrawing FHSS?

If you don't sign a contract within 12 months of your release, you have three options: recontribute the money to super (the recontribution doesn't count towards your concessional cap), apply to the ATO for a 12-month extension at the Commissioner's discretion, or keep the funds and pay a flat 20% FHSS tax on the withdrawn amount. Recontributing is usually the best move if you're not ready to buy.

Can I use FHSS money for a deposit at auction?

Only if your released FHSS funds are already in your bank account on auction day. The ATO release takes weeks, not days, so you can't request it the week of the auction and expect the cash in time. If you're planning to bid, submit your release request well in advance and use the released money like any other cash deposit.

Is the FHSS the same as early release of super?

No. The FHSS is a planned, lawful release of the voluntary contributions you deliberately added to super. It's separate from the hardship or compassionate "early release of super" rules, which apply in very different circumstances. With the FHSS, your compulsory employer super can never be touched; only your extra voluntary contributions can be released.

Which super funds let you use the FHSS?

The FHSS isn't a product offered by a particular fund; it's an ATO process. It works with any complying super fund that accepts voluntary contributions, which is almost all of them. You make your extra contributions to your existing fund, then apply to the ATO, and the ATO instructs your fund to release the money.

Ready to see what your FHSS savings translate to? Use our borrowing power calculator to see how your deposit affects how much you can borrow. And when you're ready to apply for a home loan, get matched with a broker who can structure your application around your FHSS withdrawal timeline.