How to Use the First Home Super Saver Scheme to Buy Your First Home

What can you withdraw under the FHSS scheme?

The First Home Super Saver (FHSS) scheme lets eligible people use certain voluntary contributions made to super, together with an amount of associated earnings calculated by the ATO, to help purchase or construct their first home in Australia.

The contribution limits are $15,000 per financial year and $50,000 across all financial years. These limits apply to eligible voluntary contributions made from 1 July 2017.

For the maximum releasable amount, the ATO generally includes 100% of eligible non-concessional contributions and 85% of eligible concessional contributions, plus associated earnings calculated under the FHSS rules. The full contribution amount, rather than only the releasable percentage, is used when applying the $15,000 annual and $50,000 overall contribution limits.

Which contributions are eligible for FHSS?

Eligible contributions can include voluntary concessional contributions, such as salary-sacrifice contributions, and voluntary non-concessional contributions, such as personal after-tax contributions for which you have not claimed a tax deduction.

Personal voluntary contributions for which you claim or intend to claim a tax deduction are treated as concessional contributions for FHSS purposes. Certain KiwiSaver and foreign-super transfer amounts can also qualify under specific rules.

Only eligible contributions made on or after 1 July 2017 can be accessed through FHSS.

Contributions that do not qualify

Not every amount entering your super account is available under FHSS. Important exclusions include:

• compulsory super guarantee contributions made by your employer;
• contributions made before 1 July 2017;
• mandated employer or member contributions required under an award, industrial agreement, law or fund rules;
• contributions made for you by a spouse, parent, friend or other family member;
• government co-contributions;
• contribution-splitting amounts;
• certain structured-settlement, personal-injury and CGT-related contributions;
• defined benefit and constitutionally protected fund contributions covered by the exclusion rules; and
• amounts identified as excess concessional or non-concessional contributions.

If your goal is simply to locate existing super accounts rather than withdraw voluntary contributions for a home, see how to find lost super and consolidate super accounts.

Check the first-home-buyer eligibility rules

You must be 18 or older when you request an FHSS determination. Eligible contributions made before you turned 18 can nevertheless be included in a later determination.

You must generally have never owned property in Australia. The ATO says this includes an investment property, vacant land, commercial property, a lease of land or a company title interest in land.

You do not need to be an Australian citizen or Australian resident for tax purposes to use the FHSS scheme.

Eligibility is individual. If two eligible people buy together, each can potentially access their own eligible FHSS amounts. One purchaser's previous property ownership does not automatically prevent another eligible purchaser from using FHSS.

What if you owned property before?

You may still qualify if the ATO determines that financial hardship caused you to lose ownership of all your previous property interests. Relevant events can include bankruptcy, divorce or relationship breakdown, loss of employment, illness and being affected by a natural disaster.

You must provide evidence connecting the hardship event to the loss of your property. If the ATO accepts the hardship claim, you must still satisfy the remaining FHSS requirements when requesting your determination, including not having acquired another property interest after the hardship-related loss.

Request an FHSS determination before releasing your super

An FHSS determination tells you the maximum amount the ATO calculates can be released under the scheme. You need a determination before you can request release.

Request it through ATO online services:

1. Sign in to myGov and open your linked ATO service.
2. Select Super.
3. Select Manage.
4. Select First home saver.
5. Complete and submit the determination request.

Most contributions are pre-filled using information reported by your super fund, but you are responsible for checking them. If an eligible contribution is missing, use your super fund statement or transaction list to confirm its date, amount and type.

Use the date the contribution was received by the super fund, not the date you or your employer sent it. The ATO specifically warns against relying on payslips for this because a payslip does not establish when the fund received the contribution.

You must also identify tax deductions for personal super contributions that you have claimed or intend to claim.

Get the determination before property ownership transfers to you

The current FHSS rules provide more flexibility than the older rules about signing a purchase contract, but one point remains critical: request your FHSS determination before ownership of any real property transfers to you.

Ownership will generally transfer at settlement. Once ownership of real property has transferred to you, you are generally no longer eligible to request your first FHSS determination merely because the purchase contract was signed earlier.

This distinction matters because, under the current rules for determinations made on or after 15 September 2024, a contract may already have been signed before the release request, provided the other timing requirements are met.

Check your determination before you release anything

Do not immediately request release if the determination contains an error or omits contributions you want included. The ATO warns that incorrect information can delay or cancel a release.

If you remain eligible and have not requested release, you may be able to request another determination or amend the existing determination. A new determination is needed if you want the calculation to include additional contributions and associated earnings arising after the date of the earlier determination.

ATO Guidance Note GN 2024/1 says the release request should be made within 60 days after the determination is issued, although the ATO may allow further time.

How to request your FHSS release

Once the determination is correct and you are ready to access the money, request release through ATO online services in myGov. You will need to select the determination and provide:

• the amount you want released;
• the super fund or funds from which the ATO should seek the money; and
• the bank account into which the released amount should be paid.

You can request any amount up to the FHSS maximum release amount shown in the determination.

You can only have one active release request. Requesting less than the available maximum does not give you an unrestricted opportunity to make another active request later, so make sure the request covers the total amount you intend to release.

When can you sign the property contract?

For an FHSS determination made in 2026, the relevant contract period begins 90 days before the date you request release and generally ends 12 months after the release request.

This means you can request release before signing the contract, or you can sign first and then request release within the applicable 90-day period. However, the determination itself still needs to be requested before ownership of real property transfers to you.

The ATO may grant up to a further 12 months to enter a qualifying contract, creating a maximum period of up to 24 months after the release request. The ATO says you do not need to apply for this extension; it will generally grant one unless there is a reason that doing so would be inappropriate, and it will notify you if an extension is granted.

Allow 15 to 20 business days for the release

After receiving a valid release request, the ATO issues a release authority to the nominated super fund or funds. The funds send the requested amount to the ATO, which processes the payment to you.

The ATO says it may take 15 to 20 business days from requesting release until you receive the money. Factor this into deposit, settlement and other contractual deadlines rather than assuming the money will be immediately available.

If you owe money to the ATO or another Commonwealth agency, the released amount may be offset against that debt. This can reduce the amount ultimately paid to you, potentially to nil, and can delay payment.

What kind of property can you buy?

The scheme is for purchasing or constructing residential premises in Australia that you genuinely intend to occupy as your home.

You cannot satisfy the scheme by purchasing premises that cannot be occupied as a residence, a houseboat or a motor home. Vacant land alone does not satisfy the home-purchase requirement, although FHSS can work where you purchase land and enter a qualifying contract to construct residential premises within the required period.

Your name must be on the property's title. You must genuinely intend to occupy the home as soon as practicable and intend to live in it for at least 6 of the first 12 months after it becomes practicable to occupy.

Special care when buying vacant land

If you plan to buy vacant land and build, request the FHSS determination before your interest in the land is registered. If ownership of the land transfers before the determination, the property ownership rule can make you ineligible to request the determination.

You must also enter a contract to construct residential premises on the land within the applicable FHSS contract period. Buying vacant land without entering the required construction contract is not enough.

Notify the ATO within 90 days after signing

If the FHSS determination used for your release was made on or after 15 September 2024, you must notify the ATO that you signed the qualifying purchase or construction contract within 90 days after signing, or another period the ATO allows.

Notify the ATO online by signing in through myGov and selecting ATO > Super > Manage > First home saver.

Do not confuse the contract deadline with the notification deadline. The contract must fall within the permitted period around your release request, and the ATO must then be told about the signed contract within the applicable notification period.

What if you do not buy or build within the allowed period?

If you do not enter a qualifying contract by the end of the allowed period, you generally need to choose between returning the relevant amount to super or keeping the released money and paying additional FHSS tax.

To return the money, you must make non-concessional contributions totalling at least your assessable FHSS released amount less tax withheld. You cannot claim a tax deduction for that recontribution. You must also notify the ATO of the recontribution within 12 months of the date you requested the FHSS release.

If you keep the released amount instead, the ATO can impose FHSS tax equal to 20% of your assessable FHSS released amount. Failure to make the required notification can also result in FHSS tax.

Remember the FHSS amount affects your tax return

The assessable FHSS released amount and tax withheld shown on the ATO payment summary must be included in your tax return for the financial year in which you requested the release, even if the money reaches your bank account in the following financial year.

The FHSS rules provide a 30% non-refundable tax offset on the assessable FHSS released amount. The tax treatment is one reason the amount eventually paid into your bank account may differ from the maximum release amount stated in the determination.

FHSS is separate from other first-home-buyer programs

The federal FHSS scheme is separate from state and territory first-home-buyer concessions and other housing assistance. Using another first-home-buyer concession does not by itself prevent you from accessing FHSS, but each program has its own eligibility rules.

If you are comparing federal home-buying assistance, you may also want to check the current position of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee rather than assuming older guarantee arrangements are still open to new applicants.

Common FHSS mistakes to avoid

• Waiting until after property ownership transfers to request a determination: request the determination before ownership of real property transfers to you.
• Counting compulsory employer super: super guarantee contributions are not eligible FHSS contributions.
• Using payslip dates: use the date the contribution reached your super fund.
• Requesting release from an incorrect determination: resolve errors and missing contributions before requesting release.
• Requesting too little without understanding the one-active-request rule: make sure the release request covers the total amount you want released.
• Assuming the money arrives immediately: allow the ATO's stated 15 to 20 business days.
• Missing the contract timing rules: for a 2026 determination, the qualifying period begins 90 days before the release request and normally ends 12 months after it.
• Forgetting to notify the ATO: for a 2026 determination, notify the ATO within 90 days after signing the qualifying contract.
• Buying vacant land without planning the construction contract: vacant land alone does not satisfy the FHSS home requirement.
• Ignoring the occupancy requirement: FHSS is intended for a home you genuinely intend to occupy, not simply an investment property.