Australia · Explainer

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

Two things decide most of these conversations, and both cut against intuition: no assets test applies, and account-based pensions are deemed for the income test even though the payments themselves are not taxable. Here is the test, and the arithmetic under it.

AU FY2026-27 Law Last reviewed 31 July 2026

What it is

The Commonwealth Seniors Health Card is a concession card for people over Age Pension age who do not qualify for a pension — cheaper prescriptions under the PBS, bulk-billing incentives, and state and territory concessions that vary by jurisdiction. It is worth real money to a self-funded retiree, and it is decided by a single income test.

The test is adjusted taxable income plus deemed income on account-based pension balances, measured against a limit of $101,105 for a single client or $161,768 for a couple, combined. Meet it and the card is granted; exceed it and the card is not.

Key figures

Seniors Health Card income limit — single
$101,105
Seniors Health Card income limit — couple, combined
$161,768
Seniors Health Card assets test
No assets test
Deeming rate — upper
3.25%

How the test works

The structure

assessed income = adjusted taxable income + deemed income on account-based pensions

Deeming uses the same rates and thresholds as the Age Pension income test: 1.25% up to $66,800 for a single client, 3.25% above it. Other financial assets are not separately deemed for this card — they reach the test only through whatever they produce in adjusted taxable income.

  • One limit for a couple. $161,768 is combined, and it is less than twice the single limit — the same combining convention as every other social-security test.
  • Age Pension age first. The card is for people over Age Pension age who do not receive an income support payment. A client already on a part pension has a Pensioner Concession Card instead, and does not need this one.
  • The limit moves on its own clock. It indexes on 20 September, and the deeming thresholds under it on 1 July — so a card assessed in August is assessed against a different set of figures from one assessed in October.

Worked examples

Three clients. Every figure is computed by the checker below — none of them is typed into this page.

Seniors Health Card income test at three client positions
  Single, within Single, over Couple, within
Adjusted taxable income $80,000 $90,000 $120,000
Account-based pension balance $500,000 $600,000 $900,000
Deemed income added $14,914 $18,164 $27,038
Assessed income $94,914 $108,164 $147,038
Limit $101,105$101,105$161,768
Result Within by $6,191 Over by $7,059 Within by $14,730

The first client has $6,191 of headroom, and 15.7% of what is assessed comes from deeming rather than from anything they were paid. The second is $7,059 over — and would still be over if their taxable income fell to nil, because the deemed amount is $18,164. The couple are assessed on one combined limit, with $14,730 to spare.

Income test checker

Adjusted taxable income plus deemed income on account-based pension balances, against the limit. There is no assets test to apply — assets enter this test only through the deeming step, and only where they are an account-based pension. For a couple, enter the combined figures.

$80,000

$500,000

Sets the limit: $101,105 single, $161,768 combined.

Income test

Within the limit

$94,914 assessed against a $101,105 limit — $6,191 of headroom.

Adjusted taxable income
$80,000
Deemed income on the account-based pension
$14,914
Assessed for the income test
$94,914
Limit
$101,105
Headroom
$6,191

Simplified illustration for education — not advice. The limit increases for each dependent child, and couples separated by illness are assessed against a higher combined limit; neither is modelled here.

Practical points

  • Test it before writing eligibility off. The client most likely to be told they will not qualify — a self-funded retiree with a large balance sheet — is exactly the client the absence of an assets test is designed for.
  • A one-off gain can cancel the card. Adjusted taxable income includes the net capital gain for the year, so a property or share sale can push a long-standing cardholder over the limit for one year. Worth flagging before the sale, alongside the Division 293 consequence of the same event.
  • Balance in accumulation is not deemed for this test. Only account-based pensions are. Where a client is comfortably over the limit on deemed income, the timing of when a balance is moved into the retirement phase becomes a card-eligibility question as well as a transfer balance cap one.
  • A rollover can cost grandfathering. Where an older pension is not deemed, moving it to a new product can bring it into the deeming net. Check the grandfathering position before recommending a switch, not after.
  • Couples are assessed together, and separately for the card. The income limit is combined, but each member holds their own card. A couple who pass the test both get one; a couple who fail, neither.

Questions we get asked

Is there an assets test for the Seniors Health Card?
No assets test. The card is income tested only. A client whose assessable assets are well above the Age Pension cut-off — $733,500 for a single homeowner — can hold the card, provided their income is at or under the limit.
Are account-based pensions counted, even though the payments are not taxable?
Yes — that is the second thing advisers get caught by. Account-based pension balances are deemed for this test at the same 1.25% and 3.25% rates used for the Age Pension, and the deemed amount is added to adjusted taxable income. A client over 60 with no taxable income at all can still fail the test on the deemed figure alone.
What is the income limit?
$101,105 for a single client and $161,768 for a couple, combined. The limit increases for each dependent child, and couples separated by illness are assessed against a higher combined limit. Indexed 20 September.
What counts as adjusted taxable income?
Taxable income plus the usual add-backs — reportable superannuation contributions, total net investment losses, reportable fringe benefits, foreign income and tax-free pensions or benefits. It is a broader figure than taxable income, and it is what the test starts from before deeming is added.
Are older account-based pensions treated differently?
Some are. Grandfathering applies to certain account-based pensions started before the deeming rules were extended to them, where the client has held a concession card continuously since. Check the pension start date and the card history against the Services Australia guidance before assuming a balance is deemed — a rollover to a new product can end the grandfathering.
Does the card have to be reapplied for each year?
No, but it is reassessed. Income is reviewed against the limit, and the card is cancelled if income exceeds it — so a one-off capital gain or a large lump-sum drawdown that lifts adjusted taxable income for a single year is worth modelling before it happens rather than after the cancellation notice.

Sources

Sourced from the references below. The deeming step uses the same figures as the deeming explainer and the Age Pension rates page, read from one file.

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