Take-home pay, broken down to the cent

How we calculate your take-home pay

The Pay Calculator is built on the same ATO bracket logic that powers our income tax calculator, extended with the levies, offsets, and deductions that determine what actually lands in your bank account each pay period:

1. Gross income — annualised from whichever period you enter (annual, monthly, fortnightly, weekly, daily, or hourly with a configurable hours-per-week assumption).
2. Pre-tax adjustments — salary sacrifice contributions to super and novated lease pre-tax payments are subtracted before tax is calculated.
3. Income tax — applied using the resident, non-resident, or Working Holiday Maker bracket schedule for the selected financial year.
4. Medicare levy — 2% of taxable income for residents above the low-income threshold, with a shade-in zone and family / senior / dependent adjustments.
5. Medicare Levy Surcharge — 1% / 1.25% / 1.5% on top of the standard levy for residents without private hospital cover whose income exceeds the tiered thresholds.
6. HELP / HECS repayment — for FY 2025-26 onwards, applied as a marginal 15% on repayment income above $67,000 (rising to 17% above $125,000, and never more than 10% of total income), per the 2024 reform.
7. Low Income Tax Offset — up to $700, phasing out at 5c per dollar above $37,500 and then 1.5c per dollar above $45,000.
8. Super Guarantee — 12% from 1 July 2025, stopping at the maximum contribution base. Salary sacrifice contributions are tracked separately as additional concessional contributions.
9. Novated lease impact — pre-tax reduces taxable income; post-tax ECM offsets FBT 1:1; EVs below the LCT fuel-efficient threshold attract a full FBT exemption.

FY 2026-27 income tax brackets

The Stage 3+ second-phase cut (legislated in 2025) reduces the marginal rate on the $18,201 – $45,000 band from 16% to 15% from 1 July 2026, and to 14% from 1 July 2027. Higher brackets are unchanged.

See our Budget 2026-27 explainer for the full set of announced changes.

Medicare levy and surcharge

Australian residents pay a 2% Medicare levy on taxable income. Below the low-income threshold ($28,011 for singles in FY 2025-26) the levy is waived; above it, the levy is capped at 10c per dollar over the threshold until that reaches the full 2%. Seniors use higher thresholds. Families are tested on combined family income, with the threshold raised for each dependent child. The FY 2026-27 thresholds are not set until the May 2027 Budget, so this calculator uses the FY 2025-26 figures, as the ATO's withholding tables do.

The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is an extra 1% / 1.25% / 1.5% charge that applies only to residents without an appropriate level of private hospital cover. Holding private hospital cover for the full year zeroes the surcharge regardless of income.

HELP / HECS repayments under the 2024 reform

From 1 July 2025, study loan repayments switched to a marginal system: nothing on income below $67,000, then 15c per dollar between $67,000 and $125,000, and 17c per dollar above $125,000, until the repayment reaches 10% of total income (from $179,286), which then applies instead. For FY 2026-27 the steps are $69,528, $129,717 and $186,051. Repayment income adds salary sacrifice and reportable fringe benefits (such as a novated car) back to your taxable income. This replaces the old 18-bracket whole-of-income schedule, which generated cliffs where small pay rises pushed people into significantly higher repayment rates.

Super Guarantee at 12%

The SG rate reached its legislated cap of 12% on 1 July 2025 and holds there in subsequent years. Super is calculated on Ordinary Time Earnings — generally your salary plus loadings, but excluding overtime. Salary sacrifice contributions sit on top of the SG and count towards your concessional contribution cap of $30,000 per year (2024-25 and 2025-26), rising to $32,500 from 1 July 2026. No SG is owed on earnings above the maximum contribution base ($250,000 a year in 2025-26, $270,830 in 2026-27).

Salary sacrifice vs novated lease

Salary sacrifice to super is the simplest pre-tax saving — every dollar reduces taxable income at your marginal rate, subject to your concessional cap. A novated lease can deliver a larger saving for a vehicle you would buy anyway, especially if it is an eligible electric vehicle (at or under the LCT fuel-efficient threshold: $91,387 for FY 2025-26, $91,661 for FY 2026-27). For non-EVs, the Fringe Benefits Tax cost typically offsets most of the tax saving unless you use the Employee Contribution Method post-tax payment to zero the FBT.

The EV exemption is due to change. Under a proposal announced in May 2026 (not yet law), EVs over $75,000 committed to from 1 April 2027 get a 25% FBT discount instead of the full exemption, and all EVs committed to from 1 April 2029 get the 25% discount. Leases already in place keep the full exemption, but changing employer, refinancing or extending the lease counts as a new commitment. Our guide to the EV FBT changes walks through which leases are protected and what to do now.

For a more detailed comparison including lease term, balloon, and running costs, use our dedicated novated lease calculator.

Real vs nominal income

Inflation steadily erodes the buying power of every nominal dollar. A 4% pay rise in a 3% inflation environment is really a 1% rise in real terms — and after marginal tax, you might keep only 0.7% of it. The bracket-creep tool above shows this dynamic at your specific income level.

Frequently asked questions