2026-27 tax rates

Your real take-home pay

See your income tax, Medicare levy and what actually hits your bank account — plus the tax cut arriving 1 July 2027.

What's your real take-home pay?

Your income tax, Medicare levy, study loan and salary sacrifice — the honest number that actually lands in your account.

Salary (before tax)

Salary sacrifice / yr

HECS / HELP debt?

You take home

$67,280

per year ($67,280/year) — an effective tax rate of 21%.

Take-home

$67,280

Income tax

$16,020

Medicare

$1,700

Marginal rate: 30% — the tax on your next dollar earned.

One more tax cut to come

From 1 July 2027 you'll pay $268 less a year again, as the 15% rate drops to 14%. Already law.

Resident rates, 2026-27, incl. the 2% Medicare levy (with the low-income reduction). Excludes the Medicare levy surcharge, private health offsets and other offsets. A guide, not tax advice.

Private hospital cover?

Household

Uses the salary, salary sacrifice and HECS/HELP settings from above.

Your true take-home, surcharge included

$67,280/year

an effective rate of 21% once income tax, the Medicare levy come out.

Where your income tax comes from

Taxable band	Rate	Tax
$1 – $18,200	0%	$0
$18,201 – $45,000	15%	$4,020
$45,001 – $135,000	30%	$12,000
Income tax	avg 19%	$16,020

Your marginal rate is 30% — the tax on your next dollar. The tax-free threshold covers your first $18,200.

This year vs next year

Component	2026-27	2027-28	Change
Income tax	$16,020	$15,752	−$268
Medicare levy	$1,700	$1,700	—
Total tax & levies	$17,720	$17,452	−$268
Take-home	$67,280	$67,548	+$268

From 1 July 2027 the 15% bracket drops to 14%, cutting your bill by $268 a year and lifting your take-home by the same. Already legislated.

No Medicare levy surcharge — you hold private hospital cover. Without it, income over $105,000 (single) would attract a 1–1.5% surcharge.

Resident rates. Income tax uses the 2026-27 and legislated 2027-28 brackets; the Medicare levy surcharge uses ATO 2026-27 thresholds (family thresholds use combined household income and widen $1,500 per dependent child after the first). The Medicare levy, HELP and the surcharge are unchanged between the two years. Excludes the private health rebate and other offsets. A guide, not tax advice.

Go deeper — the long game

Three lenses on the same salary: where pay rises take you, how far salary sacrifice is worth pushing, and the shape of the whole tax curve you sit on.

Take-home, year by year

Pay rises / yr

Over

Take-home, 20 yrs

$1,740,562

Tax & levies, 20 yrs

$543,419

Final-year take-home

$109,849

on $149,048 gross

Effective rate drift

21% → 26%

bracket creep

Year	Salary	Take-home	Tax & levies	Eff.	Cumulative
Now	$85,000	$67,280	$17,720	21%	$67,280
2	$87,550	$69,014	$18,536	21%	$136,294
3	$90,177	$70,800	$19,376	21%	$207,094
4	$92,882	$72,640	$20,242	22%	$279,734
5	$95,668	$74,534	$21,134	22%	$354,268
6	$98,538	$76,486	$22,052	22%	$430,754
7	$101,494	$78,496	$22,998	23%	$509,250
8	$104,539	$80,567	$23,973	23%	$589,817
9	$107,675	$82,699	$24,976	23%	$672,516
10	$110,906	$84,896	$26,010	23%	$757,412
11	$114,233	$87,158	$27,075	24%	$844,571
12	$117,660	$89,489	$28,171	24%	$934,059
13	$121,190	$91,889	$29,301	24%	$1,025,948
14	$124,825	$94,361	$30,464	24%	$1,120,310
15	$128,570	$96,908	$31,662	25%	$1,217,217
16	$132,427	$99,531	$32,897	25%	$1,316,748
17	$136,400	$102,134	$34,266	25%	$1,418,882
18	$140,492	$104,630	$35,862	26%	$1,523,512
19	$144,707	$107,201	$37,506	26%	$1,630,713
20	$149,048	$109,849	$39,199	26%	$1,740,562

Future (nominal) dollars: your salary grows 3% a year while your salary sacrifice and this year's 2026-27 tax scales are held flat. That's why your effective rate climbs 5 points even before any real pay gain — pure bracket creep, unless the thresholds are re-indexed.

How far to push salary sacrifice

Sacrifice	Take-home	You give up	Into super	Tax saved	Net gain
$0	$67,280	—	—	—	—
$3,000	$65,240	−$2,040	+$2,550	$960	+$510
$5,500	$63,540	−$3,740	+$4,675	$1,760	+$935
$8,500	$61,500	−$5,780	+$7,225	$2,720	+$1,445
$11,000	$59,800	−$7,480	+$9,350	$3,520	+$1,870
$14,000	$57,760	−$9,520	+$11,900	$4,480	+$2,380
$16,500	$56,060	−$11,220	+$14,025	$5,280	+$2,805
$19,500	$54,020	−$13,260	+$16,575	$6,240	+$3,315
$22,300Cap	$52,116	−$15,164	+$18,955	$7,136	+$3,791

Fill the cap and you're $3,791 better off

Sacrificing the full $22,300 headroom (the $32,500 concessional cap less your $10,200 employer contributions) costs $15,164 of take-home but lands $18,955 in super after the 15% contributions tax — a net $3,791 lift to your position for zero extra effort.

“Net gain” is the income tax and Medicare you save less the 15% super contributions tax. Assumes 12% employer SG on your full salary and the $32,500 2026-27 concessional cap. Ignores unused carry-forward cap and any existing voluntary contributions.

The tax curve you sit on

Take-homeGross (if there were no tax)Tax & levies

At $85,000 you keep $67,280 — about 79c in each gross dollar — before any salary sacrifice. The shaded wedge is what tax and levies take, and it widens as income climbs into higher brackets. Curve assumes no salary sacrifice at every point.

Your contract salary and the money that lands in your account are two different numbers, and the gap widens once the Medicare levy and a study loan are involved. This page works out the second one — what you keep each year, month, fortnight or week, and where the rest goes.

It also separates two rates that get confused constantly. Your marginal rate is the tax on your next dollar earned — what matters when you're weighing up a pay rise. Your effective rate is income tax and Medicare levy as a share of gross salary, and it is always lower, because the first slice of your income is taxed at nothing.

How this is calculated

1
Take salary sacrifice out first
Anything you salary sacrifice comes off your gross pay before tax, so it's subtracted first to get your taxable income. It isn't lost — it goes to super, taxed at 15% on the way in, so the breakdown shows it as its own slice rather than as tax.
2
Apply the resident brackets, band by band
Income tax is worked out on 2026-27 resident rates, one band at a time. Nothing is paid below the tax-free threshold of $18,200, and each higher rate applies only to the dollars inside its own band.
3
Add the Medicare levy
The levy is 2% of taxable income, with the low-income reduction built in: nothing below the lower threshold, then phasing in at 10 cents in the dollar until the full 2% applies. It's shown on its own line because it's calculated separately from the brackets.
4
Add a compulsory study loan repayment
With a HECS or HELP debt switched on, the marginal system applies: you repay a share of the income above the minimum threshold of $69,528, not of your whole income. It's assessed on repayment income, which adds sacrifice back, so it's charged on your full gross.
5
Subtract everything, then look a year ahead
Take-home is gross pay less sacrifice, income tax, Medicare levy and any loan repayment, divided by the pay cycle you pick. The same income also runs through the 2027-28 brackets, where the 15% rate drops to 14% from 1 July 2027.

What it assumes

Resident rates only — foreign residents and working holiday makers are taxed on different scales.
Your salary is treated as your whole taxable income. Investment income, a second job, deductions and tax offsets sit outside the model.
The Medicare levy surcharge isn't in the headline figure. The advanced section adds it once you enter your private hospital cover and household details.
The concessional cap isn't enforced. Sacrifice plus your employer's Super Guarantee counts toward the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026-27.
Employer super isn't take-home pay. If your salary is quoted as a package including super, enter the salary component only.
The effective rate covers income tax and the Medicare levy. A study loan repayment is repaying a debt rather than paying tax, so it sits outside that percentage.

Common questions

Why doesn't this match my payslip?

Employers withhold using the ATO's PAYG schedules, which work per pay period and assume you'll earn the same amount every period all year. This works out the annual position instead. Over a steady full year the two land close together; starting mid-year, bonuses, a second job or deductions are what create a refund or a bill.

Does salary sacrificing into super actually leave me ahead?

Sacrificed money is taxed at 15% going into super instead of at your marginal rate, so above a 15% marginal rate you pay less tax overall — that's the saving shown. The trade-offs: it's locked away until preservation age, it counts toward your concessional cap, and it doesn't cut your loan repayment.

Why doesn't salary sacrifice reduce my HECS repayment?

Compulsory repayments are assessed on repayment income, which adds reportable super contributions back to your taxable income. Sacrificing lowers your income tax but leaves the repayment unchanged, and the calculator treats it that way. It's the usual reason an estimate looks higher than expected.

What changes on 1 July 2027?

The rate on income between the tax-free threshold and $45,000 falls from 15% to 14%. It's already law, and since it applies to one band, everyone earning above $45,000 gets the same dollar saving — the tool shows yours.

Sources: ATO — Individual income tax rates (residents) · ATO — Medicare levy surcharge thresholds and rates · All data sources

General information only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions above and don't account for your personal circumstances. Confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed adviser.

How this is calculated

Take salary sacrifice out first

Apply the resident brackets, band by band

Add the Medicare levy

Add a compulsory study loan repayment