Comprehensive Income Tax Calculator Australia

Use this Pro calculator to see your real Australian take-home pay. It goes beyond basic income tax to include the Low Income Tax Offset, the Medicare levy, the Medicare Levy Surcharge and any compulsory HELP/HECS repayment, the deductions that a simple calculator misses.

What comes out of your pay

Your gross salary is reduced by several separate charges, each with its own rules:

• Income tax on your taxable income at the resident marginal brackets, reduced by the Low Income Tax Offset for lower incomes.
• Medicare levy: 2% of taxable income for most residents.
• Medicare Levy Surcharge: an extra 1% to 1.5% if you do not hold private hospital cover and your income is over the threshold. Tick the private-cover box to remove it.
• HELP/HECS repayment: a compulsory percentage of your income once you earn above the first repayment threshold, if you have a study debt.

Adding all of these gives your total tax and levies, and subtracting that from your gross income gives your true take-home pay, shown annually, monthly and weekly.

The Medicare Levy Surcharge

The surcharge is designed to encourage private hospital cover. If your income is above the singles (or family) threshold and you do not hold cover for the full year, you pay an extra 1% to 1.5% of income on top of the ordinary Medicare levy. Often the cost of a basic hospital policy is less than the surcharge, and this calculator lets you test that by toggling the cover box.

HELP/HECS repayments

If you have a study loan, the ATO collects a compulsory repayment through your tax once your income passes the first threshold. The rate rises in steps as income increases and applies to your whole repayment income, not just the amount above the threshold. Tick the HELP box to include it in your take-home figure.

A worked example

Take Michael, a resident earning A$90,000 with a A$25,000 HELP debt and no private hospital cover:

• Income tax : on the resident brackets his tax before offsets is roughly A$19,700, trimmed slightly by the Low Income Tax Offset (which has phased down to little at this income).
• Medicare levy : 2% of A$90,000 = A$1,800.
• Medicare Levy Surcharge : at A$90,000 he sits above the singles threshold, so without hospital cover he pays 1% = A$900. Buying a basic hospital policy for less than A$900 would remove this entirely.
• HELP repayment : at A$90,000 the applicable rate is around 5.5% of repayment income, roughly A$4,950, deducted through his pay.

His total tax and levies come to about A$27,350, leaving take-home pay near A$62,650 a year, about A$5,220 a month. A basic income-tax-only calculator would have understated his deductions by close to A$7,650 by ignoring the levy, surcharge and HELP repayment.

Marginal versus average tax rate

A frequent point of confusion is the difference between your marginal rate and your average rate. Michael's top dollar is taxed at 32% (plus levies), but because the lower brackets are taxed more lightly, his average income-tax rate across all his earnings is well below that. This matters when you weigh up extra work, a pay rise or salary sacrifice: only the income falling in the higher bracket is taxed at the higher marginal rate, so a raise never leaves you worse off overall. The calculator shows the total, but keeping the marginal-versus-average distinction in mind helps you interpret it.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting the surcharge is all-or-nothing on cover. Holding hospital cover for only part of the year still leaves you liable for the surcharge on the uncovered days.
• Treating HELP as tax-deductible. It is a compulsory repayment collected via the tax system, not a deduction, and it is calculated on repayment income.
• Assuming a pay rise pushes all your income into a higher bracket. Only the portion above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate.
• Ignoring extras-only health cover. Only hospital cover removes the surcharge; extras (dental, optical) policies do not.
• Overlooking the family thresholds. If you have a spouse or dependants, the surcharge is tested against a higher family income threshold, so a couple's position can differ markedly from two singles on the same salaries.

Interpreting your result

The take-home figure is what genuinely reaches your bank account after the four main deductions, so it is the number to budget against, not your gross salary. Comparing the annual, monthly and weekly views helps sanity-check a payslip: if your employer's withholding differs from the calculator, it is often because HELP or the surcharge is being handled differently, or because you have salary-sacrifice arrangements the tool does not see. Use the toggles as decision aids rather than fixed settings: switching private hospital cover on and off shows whether a policy pays for itself against the surcharge, and turning HELP on and off isolates exactly how much your study debt costs you each year through the tax system.

Assumptions and limitations

The calculator covers the resident case and uses taxable income as the base for the surcharge and HELP repayment (a close approximation of the ATO's broader "income for surcharge purposes"). It does not model Division 293 tax for very high earners, other tax offsets, or the private health rebate. All rates, brackets and thresholds are kept current automatically.

This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your position with a registered tax agent.

About This Take Home Pay Calculator

Use this take home pay calculator to get an instant, accurate estimate. The figures follow official ATO guidance and every rate and threshold is kept up to date for 2026. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.