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The calculation in order
First the input is turned into annual cash salary. Hourly pay uses stated paid hours and weeks. A package including super is split using 12% and the selected year’s maximum contributions base.
Annual pre-tax salary deductions reduce cash available. Eligible salary-only standard work deduction is then applied for 2026-27 when selected. Income tax is calculated in slices, with the low income tax offset where applicable. Medicare, surcharge and HELP use their own income rules. Employer super is shown outside take-home pay.
Different tests use different income
HELP and surcharge tier income can add back reportable super, reportable benefits and net investment losses. Salary sacrifice to super is therefore not treated as a blanket reduction in every income test.
Family Medicare levy reductions consider partner taxable income. Enter that amount in the separate partner taxable income field. Partner annual income, including relevant add-backs, is used for the surcharge tier instead. These figures can differ after salary sacrifice or other deductions. A qualifying family Medicare reduction can also remove compulsory HELP repayments.
Current rules and known limits
The default year is 2026-27, with a 15% first resident tax rate, indexed HELP bands and surcharge thresholds, 12% super guarantee, $270,830 annual guarantee maximum base and $32,500 ordinary concessional cap.
The ordinary Medicare low-income thresholds are the latest legislated 2025-26 thresholds applying to later years until changed. A further 2026-27 uplift may change final assessments. Proposed EV FBT changes and the 2027-28 working Australians tax offset are not current-year benefits.
The calculators do not cover foreign residents, working holiday makers, seniors and pensioner offsets, part-year residency, part-year Medicare exemptions or hospital cover, capital gains, business income, income-tested government benefits, Division 293 or every salary packaging arrangement. The standard deduction assumes eligible labour income without competing work expense deductions.
Employer super assumes an eligible adult employee and that the entered salary counts as ordinary earnings. Under-18 eligibility and different treatment of overtime or other pay components need a separate check. The calculator does not decide whether every payslip item attracts super.
Comparisons, rounding and your payslip
Pay rise and bonus results subtract two annual tax positions using the same settings. Working-week results scale gross salary first and then recalculate tax. Salary sacrifice shows ordinary 15% fund contribution tax and excludes special fund treatment.
Displayed amounts are rounded for readability, while comparisons use the underlying calculation. A monthly equivalent is divided by 12, a fortnightly equivalent by 26 and weekly by 52.
Actual withholding follows payroll rules and timing. The standard work deduction can be settled only at tax time. A negative or impossible input is rejected rather than shown as a valid zero-cost result.
Sources you can check
Sources checked for this page on 3 October 2026. Statistics keep their own measurement dates.
- ATO: Australian resident income tax rates
- ATO: study and training loan repayment thresholds
- Higher Education Support Act: family HELP repayment exception
- ATO: Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners
- ATO: Medicare levy surcharge thresholds and rates
- ATO: super guarantee
- ATO: maximum contributions base and contribution caps
- Tax Reform Act 2026: standard deduction and future offset
- ATO: super eligibility and employees under 18