💰 Australian Pay Calculator
Work out your take-home pay after income tax, Medicare levy and HELP/HECS repayments.
Results
Pay breakdown
Income tax by bracket (per year)
| Taxable income | Rate | Income in band | Tax |
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Estimates only, based on the tax rates for the selected financial year (resident, foreign resident and working holiday maker scales), the low income tax offset, the 2% Medicare levy with its low-income reduction, the Medicare levy surcharge, and HELP repayments under the marginal system. The 2026–27 Medicare levy low-income threshold is assumed to match 2025–26 until the ATO publishes it. Super is shown at the 12% guarantee rate and is not included in take-home pay. Your actual pay can differ because of PAYG withholding rules, salary sacrifice, other income, offsets and your tax return. This is not financial or tax advice.
Why use this calculator?
The number on a job ad is the least useful one on it: the amount that reaches your account depends on the tax bands it falls through, the Medicare levy, any study loan and whether super is on top or already inside. This calculator takes a pay figure at whatever frequency you are paid in — a year, a month, a fortnight, a week, a day or an hour — and works out the take-home pay for the year you are actually working. It is also the honest answer to what a pay rise is worth, because the marginal rate at your income is shown beside the average one.
How does this calculator work?
The pay figure becomes a yearly gross amount first: a weekly rate × 52, a fortnightly rate × 26, a monthly rate × 12, and a daily or hourly rate × the days or hours you work each week × 52. If the amount is a package that includes super, the wage is that amount ÷ 1.12, because the super guarantee is 12% and is paid on top of a wage rather than out of it.
Income tax is then worked out band by band — each rate applies to the part of the income inside its band, never to the whole of it:
tax = the sum of (income in band × rate of band)
For a resident in 2026–27 that is nothing up to $18,200, then 15% from there to $45,000, 30% to $135,000, 37% to $190,000, and 45% above it. (The $18,201–$45,000 band was taxed at 16% in 2025–26.) Foreign residents pay 30% from the first dollar with no tax-free threshold, and working holiday makers 15% up to $45,000 and 30% above it. On top of the tax:
- The low income tax offset: $700, taken away at 5 cents in the dollar above $37,500 and 1.5 cents above $45,000, so it is gone by $66,667.
- The Medicare levy: 2% of taxable income, with nothing payable under the low-income threshold ($28,011) and a shade-in of 10 cents in the dollar above it until the full 2% is reached.
- The Medicare levy surcharge, if you have no private hospital cover: 1%, 1.25% or 1.5% of taxable income once it passes the surcharge thresholds.
- HELP/HECS repayments on the marginal system: 15 cents in the dollar on income above the minimum threshold, 17 cents on the part above the middle threshold, and a flat 10% of the whole income above the top threshold.
Take-home pay is the gross wage minus all of that. The average tax rate is everything taken divided by the gross income; the marginal rate is what the next dollar is taxed at, which is the one to look at when a pay rise is on offer. Employer super is shown beside the result because it is paid on top and is never part of take-home pay.
Frequently asked questions
Why is this different from my payslip?
A payslip shows what the ATO's withholding tables take out of one pay period, worked out as though you earn that amount all year. This page works out a whole year at the rate you entered, so if your pay is steady the two land close. Salary sacrifice, a second job, other income, investment losses and the deductions you claim are all sorted out in your tax return rather than on a payslip mid-year.
What is the difference between the marginal rate and the average rate?
The average rate is all the tax divided by all the income; the marginal rate is the rate charged on the last dollar you earn. Moving into the 30% band does not tax everything you earn at 30%, only the income inside that band, which is why the average rate on a middle income looks so much lower than the rate people quote.
Is super included in take-home pay?
No. The employer's 12% is paid on top of your wage, so it never reaches your bank account, and the results show it separately. The exception is a salary package that includes super, which is the question the form asks: choose that and the wage is reduced so the package stays the same.
Which financial year should I choose?
The one the income falls in: money earned from 1 July 2026 belongs to 2026–27. The 2026–27 figures use the 15% rate on the $18,201–$45,000 band and the 2026–27 HELP thresholds. The Medicare levy low-income threshold for 2026–27 has not been published yet, so the calculator assumes it matches 2025–26.
How are HELP / HECS repayments worked out?
Since 2025–26 they are worked out on the margin rather than as a percentage of the whole income: 15 cents in the dollar on income above $69,528 (for 2026–27), 17 cents on the part above $129,717, and a flat 10% of the whole income above $186,050. Nothing is payable until your income passes the minimum threshold, which is why a pay rise near a threshold costs less than people expect.
What about salary sacrifice, deductions or negative gearing?
There is one deductions box, and it takes anything that comes off your taxable income: work-related expenses, donations, salary sacrifice into super. Investment losses, franking credits and tax on income from elsewhere are not in here — they turn up when you lodge your return, and this page is about the pay you are earning.
When is the Medicare levy surcharge charged?
When your income is above the surcharge threshold and you have no private hospital cover. It is charged at 1%, 1.25% or 1.5% of taxable income depending on how far above the threshold you are, and answering the hospital cover question is what puts it into the result.