Work out your annual and per-pay take-home pay for 2025-26, with the Medicare levy, HECS/HELP and the 2026-27 tax cut all built in.
This tool turns a gross salary into the number that actually lands in your bank account. It applies the official Australian Taxation Office (ATO) marginal tax brackets for the 2025-26 financial year, adds the 2% Medicare levy, subtracts the Low Income Tax Offset where you qualify, and then optionally layers on a HECS/HELP study-loan repayment and the Medicare Levy Surcharge. It splits the result across your chosen pay cycle and shows the 2026-27 tax cut side by side, so you can see exactly how much the legislated rate change is worth to you.
Australia runs a progressive marginal system. Your taxable salary is cut into slices and each slice is taxed at its own rate — not your whole income at the top rate. For 2025-26 the resident slices are: nothing on the first $18,200, then 16% on income from $18,201 to $45,000, 30% from $45,001 to $135,000, 37% from $135,001 to $190,000, and 45% on anything above $190,000. The calculator adds each slice together to get your base income tax.
On top of that sits the Medicare levy of 2% of taxable income, which helps fund the public health system. Low earners pay a reduced levy that phases in gradually rather than switching on all at once. Next, the Low Income Tax Offset (LITO) reduces your tax bill by up to $700 for incomes at or below $37,500, tapering away to zero by $66,667 — an offset can only cut tax to zero, it never becomes a cash refund on its own.
If you carry a study debt, the compulsory HECS/HELP repayment is added. From 1 July 2025 this moved to a marginal scale: nothing below $67,000, then 15 cents per dollar between $67,000 and $125,000, then $8,700 plus 17 cents per dollar between $125,000 and $179,285, and 10% of your total income above that. Finally, if you do not hold private hospital cover and earn above the singles threshold, the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) adds 1% to 1.5% of your income — a deliberate nudge towards taking out private cover.
Superannuation is money your employer pays into your retirement fund, not into your wallet, so it is never part of take-home pay. The catch is that "$90,000" can mean two different things. If your salary excludes super, your employer pays the 12% guarantee on top, and your taxable salary is the full $90,000. If your package includes super, the calculator strips the super out first, so your taxable salary is lower. Use the toggle to match your contract — it changes the answer noticeably.
Under the legislated Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Act 2024, the second bracket drops from 16% to 15% on 1 July 2026. Because that bracket spans $18,201 to $45,000, the saving caps out at 1% of roughly $26,800 — about $268 a year — for anyone earning $45,000 or more. It is modest but automatic. Flip the financial-year toggle and the calculator shows your exact saving.
This is a clean, salary-only estimate. It assumes your salary is your only assessable income and ignores things that change real tax bills: deductions, salary sacrifice, reportable fringe benefits, investment or rental income, capital gains, the Senior and Pensioner Tax Offset, family or spouse circumstances that shift Medicare and surcharge thresholds, and Pay As You Go (PAYG) withholding quirks that can leave you with a small bill or refund at year end. The Medicare levy low-income thresholds used are the 2025-26 figures (singles exempt up to $28,011, full 2% levy from $35,014), as lifted in the 2026-27 Budget and backdated to 1 July 2025. Non-resident rates have no tax-free threshold and no Medicare levy, and the calculator reflects that when you switch residency. For anything that matters, treat the output as a guide and confirm with the ATO or a registered tax agent.
General information only — an estimate, not financial, tax, credit or legal advice. Figures current as at FY2025-26, reviewed June 2026. Confirm with the ATO / your lender / the relevant state revenue office.
Sources: ATO — Tax rates – Australian resident (2025-26 brackets); ATO — Personal income tax: new tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Cost of Living Tax Cuts) Act 2024 (2026-27 16%→15%); ATO — Medicare levy and Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners (2% levy, 2025-26 low-income thresholds); ATO — Low income tax offset (LITO); ATO — Medicare levy surcharge income, thresholds and rates; ATO — Study and training support loans rates and repayment thresholds (2025-26 marginal HELP scale); ATO — Super guarantee percentage (12% from 1 July 2025).