Australia Tax Withheld Calculator (2026–27)
PAYG withholding per pay period, using the ATO’s own Schedule 1 & 8 formulas. Enter your pay — no button, results update as you type.
Only applies if you’ve claimed the tax-free threshold.
Australia Tax Withheld Calculator (2026–27)
This calculator works out PAYG (pay as you go) tax withholding for an Australian resident employee, using the ATO’s own published Schedule 1 formulas — the exact linear equations employers and payroll software are required to use for the 2026–27 income year. Enter your gross pay for a weekly, fortnightly or monthly period, whether you’ve claimed the tax-free threshold, and whether you have a study or training support loan debt, and see your tax withheld and net pay update instantly.
How PAYG Withholding Differs From Your Annual Tax
This is a different number from your annual income tax return figure (see the sibling Australia Income Tax Calculator for that). Withholding is an estimate deducted from each pay so that, over a full year, you’ve roughly paid your expected tax bill in advance — it’s reconciled (and any over- or under-payment refunded or billed) when you lodge your tax return. The ATO publishes exact formulas for this (Schedule 1), rather than leaving it to employers to approximate from the annual brackets.
The Tax-Free Threshold Matters Most
If you’ve claimed the tax-free threshold with an employer, the first roughly $362/week ($18,200/year) is withheld tax-free, and the withholding formula (Scale 2) is noticeably gentler than if you haven’t (Scale 1). You can only claim the threshold from one employer at a time — claiming it at a second job usually means too little is withheld overall, leaving a tax bill at year’s end even though each individual employer withheld correctly for what they knew about.
Study and Training Support Loans (STSL / HELP)
If you have a HELP, VET Student Loan, Financial Supplement, Student Start-up Loan or Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan debt, your employer must withhold an additional STSL component once your pay passes a threshold ($1,337/week if you’ve claimed the tax-free threshold, $987/week if you haven’t) — calculated with its own separate formula (Schedule 8) and added on top of ordinary withholding. This calculator shows it as its own line so you can see exactly how much of your pay packet is going toward your loan repayment versus ordinary income tax.
Worked Example
A weekly-paid employee earning $2,608.36, who has claimed the tax-free threshold and has an STSL debt: the ATO’s own published example shows the STSL component alone comes to $193 that week, calculated completely separately from ordinary income tax withholding. This calculator reproduces that exact figure, then adds it to the base Scale 2 withholding to show your true total tax withheld for the week.
No Tax File Number? A Much Higher Rate Applies
If you haven’t given your employer a Tax File Number (and don’t qualify for a TFN-exempt category), they’re legally required to withhold a flat 47% of your entire gross pay (45% if you’re a foreign resident) — no tax-free threshold, no STSL adjustment, no offsets. This is designed as a strong incentive to provide a TFN, not a reflection of your real tax rate.
Who Should Use This Calculator?
Employees checking whether their payslip’s withholding looks right, and small-business employers or bookkeepers who want a quick sense-check of a pay run without opening full payroll software. It covers ordinary regular salary/wage payments for Australian tax residents.
What This Calculator Doesn’t Cover
Foreign resident and working holiday maker withholding rates, the Medicare levy variation/exemption (a narrow declaration-gated carve-out for certain pensioners and ADF members), the Seniors and Pensioners Tax Offset (the ATO’s own tool excludes this too), quarterly pay periods, leave loading/bonuses/commissions/termination payments, and the rare extra-withholding tables for years with 53 weekly or 27 fortnightly pays. All are flagged rather than silently ignored.
Cross-Checked Against the ATO’s Own Tax Withheld Calculator
Unlike this series’ annual income-tax calculators, the ATO’s own Tax withheld calculator already covers the 2026–27 income year, so it was used directly as the live cross-check rather than a substitute tool — see the build’s QA report for the tested scenarios.
Official Sources
- ATO — Tax withheld calculator (official cross-check tool)
- ATO — Schedule 1: Statement of formulas for calculating amounts to be withheld
- ATO — Schedule 8: Statement of formulas for calculating STSL components
Frequently Asked Questions
How much tax should be withheld from my pay in Australia?
It depends on your gross pay, pay frequency, whether you’ve claimed the tax-free threshold, and any STSL debt — the ATO publishes exact formulas (Schedule 1) that this calculator applies directly.
What does “claiming the tax-free threshold” mean for withholding?
Your employer withholds less because the first $18,200 of annual income is tax-free. Only claim it from one employer at a time.
Why is extra tax withheld if I have a HELP or STSL debt?
Study and training loan debts are repaid through the tax system once income passes a threshold — your employer withholds an additional STSL component to cover the expected compulsory repayment.
What happens if I don’t give my employer a tax file number?
A flat 47% (45% for foreign residents) is withheld from your entire gross pay, with no tax-free threshold or other adjustments.
This calculator provides an estimate based on ATO Schedule 1 and Schedule 8 formulas for Australian resident employees on ordinary weekly, fortnightly or monthly pay. It doesn’t cover foreign residents, working holiday makers, Medicare levy variations, SAPTO, quarterly pay, leave loading, bonuses, commissions or termination payments. Check ato.gov.au or a registered tax/BAS agent for advice about your specific situation.
