How we calculate take-home pay in Australia

The order of the calculation

1. Salary: the amount you enter, turned into a yearly figure. If it is a package including super, 12/112 of it is super, up to the maximum contribution base.
2. Taxable income: salary less any salary sacrifice into super, less the standard deduction for work-related expenses: the lesser of $1,000 and your salary after salary sacrifice (section 25-130 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, from 2026-27). We assume you claim no other work-related expenses.
3. Income tax on the resident rates for 2026-27, less the low income tax offset, which cannot take it below zero.
4. Medicare levy: 2% of taxable income, nil or reduced under the single low-income thresholds (the 2025-26 figures, the latest published), with the reduction applying up to and including the upper threshold.
5. Medicare levy surcharge, if you say you have no private hospital cover: the tier is set by taxable income plus salary sacrifice, and the rate is charged on taxable income.
6. HELP repayment, if you have a study loan: worked out on repayment income, which is taxable income plus salary sacrifice, under the marginal system.
7. Take-home pay: your cash pay (salary less salary sacrifice) less income tax, Medicare levy, surcharge and HELP; the standard deduction lowers the tax but is not a payment. Monthly, fortnightly and weekly figures are the year divided by 12, 26 and 52.
8. Super: the 12% super guarantee on salary up to $270,830, plus salary sacrifice, paid by your employer on top.

The payslip

The estimated payslip uses the ATO's withholding formulas: Schedule 1 scale 2 if you claim the tax-free threshold and scale 1 if not, plus the Schedule 8 study loan component if you have a loan, for weekly, fortnightly and monthly pay. Earnings are converted to a weekly figure, whole dollars plus 99 cents, and each amount is rounded to the nearest dollar. The surcharge is not withheld. The formulas were published on 17 June 2026, before the standard deduction became law on 26 June, and as far as we can tell they do not allow for it, so more is withheld than you owe and the calculator shows the difference.

Sources

• Income tax: ATO: Tax rates, Australian residents; Treasury Laws Amendment (More Cost of Living Relief) Act 2025; Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Act 2024; Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026; ATO: Standard deduction for work-related expenses; ATO: Low income tax offset
• Medicare: ATO: Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners; ATO: Medicare levy reduction, family income; ATO: Medicare levy surcharge income, thresholds and rates; Budget 2026-27, Budget Paper No. 2
• Study loans: ATO: Study and training loan repayment income and rates; ATO: Study and training loans, what's new; Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Act 2025
• Withholding: ATO: Schedule 1, statement of formulas for calculating amounts to be withheld; ATO: Schedule 1 coefficients for weekly payments; ATO: Schedule 1, working out the weekly earnings; ATO: Schedule 1, using a formula; ATO: Schedule 8, study and training support loans components
• Super: ATO: Super guarantee; ATO: Maximum contributions base; ATO: About Payday Super; Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025; ATO: Salary sacrificing super; ATO: Contributions caps; ATO: Division 293 tax; ATO: Government contributions (low income super tax offset)
• Minimum wage: Fair Work Commission: Annual Wage Review 2026 decision, [2026] FWCFB 3500; Fair Work Ombudsman: Annual Wage Review 2026
• Other rates shown for reference: ATO: Tax rates, foreign residents; ATO: Tax rates, working holiday makers

How we test it

528 automated checks run before every build. They include six worked examples from our research, reworked by hand for the standard deduction, for $60,000, $80,000, $100,000 with a HELP debt, $150,000, $200,000 and $80,000 with $10,000 of salary sacrifice; every amount in the ATO's published sample data for scales 1 and 2, weekly, fortnightly and monthly (ATO: Schedule 1 withholding amounts sample data); the three worked examples in Schedule 8; the ATO's own worked examples for withholding, HELP repayments, the Medicare levy reduction and the surcharge tiers; and each threshold and cap. The version in your browser is checked against the version that writes these pages on 600 random cases.

What we could not confirm from an official source

• The Medicare levy low-income thresholds for 2026-27, which have not been published. We use the 2025-26 thresholds the ATO publishes, which it also uses in its 2026-27 withholding tables. We could not find the law that sets the 2025-26 figures.
• Tax rates for foreign residents and working holiday makers for 2026-27: the ATO shows tables only to 2025-26. Neither group is modelled.
• HELP thresholds for 2027-28, which depend on indexation.

What it does not cover

Work-related expense claims beyond the standard deduction; the working Australians tax offset, which starts in 2027-28; foreign residents and working holiday makers; family, seniors' and pensioners' Medicare levy thresholds and the seniors and pensioners tax offset; other tax offsets; Medicare levy exemptions; other deductions; income other than salary; fringe benefits; two or more jobs at once; bonuses and back pay; part-year residence; Division 293 tax and excess contributions (flagged, not calculated); and the Norfolk Island super guarantee rate.

Changelog

• 22 October 2026: Australia calculator published for 2026-27.

These figures are estimates based on the information you entered and the 2026-27 rates and thresholds published by the Australian Taxation Office, with the Medicare levy low-income thresholds for 2025-26, the latest published. They are general information, not tax, financial or legal advice. Your actual pay and tax can differ, for example because of other income, deductions, your family situation, allowances, salary packaging or how your employer runs payroll. Check your payslip, or ask your employer, a registered tax agent or the ATO, before relying on them.