How we calculate Australia take-home pay

Defaults

• Income year 2026–27 (1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027); one job for the whole year.
• Australian resident, claiming the tax-free threshold, full Medicare levy, private hospital cover (no surcharge), no HELP debt, paid fortnightly.
• Super guarantee of 12% paid by your employer on top of salary, unless you say your figure includes super.

Your pay packet (withholding)

1. If your figure includes super, salary = package ÷ 1.12. Salary sacrifice is taken off before tax.
2. Pay for one period is converted to weekly earnings as the ATO's Schedule 1 says (fortnightly ÷ 2; monthly × 3/13, adding 1c if the amount ends in 33c; cents ignored), plus 99 cents.
3. Withholding = a × weekly earnings − b, using the coefficients for your scale (tax-free threshold, no tax-free threshold, foreign resident, Medicare exemption), rounded to the nearest dollar and converted back (× 2 fortnightly, × 13/3 monthly). The formulas already include the Medicare levy and the low income tax offset.
4. Working holiday makers: the Schedule 15 rates for a registered employer, spread evenly over the year.

Your tax-time estimate (annual liability)

1. Taxable income = salary − salary sacrifice − the $1,000 standard deduction for work-related expenses if you choose it.
2. Income tax from the 2026–27 brackets for your residency, minus the low income tax offset (residents).
3. Medicare levy at 2% (1% with a half exemption), reduced for low incomes; Medicare levy surcharge if you have no private hospital cover (singles thresholds).
4. HELP repayment on repayment income (taxable income plus reportable super contributions) under the marginal system.
5. Refund or bill = everything withheld during the year − the total above.

Known limits

• The 2026–27 Medicare low-income thresholds aren't set yet; we use the 2025–26 figures, as the ATO's withholding formulas do.
• Family Medicare reductions and surcharge thresholds, SAPTO, other income, deductions, offsets, fringe benefits and Division 293 are not modelled.
• Part-year residents, more than one job in a year and the 53-pay year are not modelled.

Every release is tested against cases from the official calculator: see accuracy tests. Rate changes are logged in the changelog.