What this 2026–27 Australian tax calculator estimates
Enter annual taxable income to see resident income tax after the Low Income Tax Offset, a Medicare levy estimate, Medicare Levy Surcharge for the supported single-person case, and any HELP or other study-loan compulsory repayment. The headline is the remaining annual income, with monthly, fortnightly and weekly averages for budgeting.
The calculation is an annual assessment-style estimate, not payroll software. It does not use your tax file number declaration, pay frequency, irregular bonuses or employer rounding. If a payslip is the task, use the ATO's current PAYG schedules; if an annual scenario is the task, this breakdown explains the main components.
FY 2026–27 resident income-tax bands
| Taxable income | Rate on this band |
|---|---|
| A$0–A$18,200 | Nil |
| A$18,201–A$45,000 | 15% |
| A$45,001–A$135,000 | 30% |
| A$135,001–A$190,000 | 37% |
| Above A$190,000 | 45% |
The lowest rate changed to 15% from 1 July 2026 under the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Cost of Living Relief) Act 2025. Each rate only applies to income inside its band.
LITO, Medicare and private hospital cover
LITO can reduce income tax by up to A$700. It cannot reduce Medicare or create a cash refund on its own. The amount begins tapering above A$37,500 and reaches zero after A$66,667.
Medicare caution: the calculator derives its A$28,011 lower threshold and A$35,013 phase-in endpoint from the official 2026 PAYG withholding schedule. It is a current withholding-based estimate, not a claim that the final FY 2026–27 annual assessment thresholds have already been legislated.
The additional Medicare Levy Surcharge is different from the ordinary levy. In the supported single-person case, the tier is selected using income for MLS purposes, while the percentage applies to the separate surcharge base. The two advanced MLS fields distinguish tier-only items from amounts that also increase the surcharge base.
HELP and HECS after the repayment-system change
HELP repayments are now marginal through the first two bands. That avoids the old pattern where crossing a threshold applied a percentage to the whole repayment income. Above A$186,050, the statutory result is 10% of total repayment income. The calculator also caps the compulsory repayment at the outstanding debt you enter.
Taxable income, HELP repayment income, MLS tier income and the MLS surcharge base can differ. The advanced inputs keep these legal concepts separate rather than applying every addition to every calculation.
Worked example
At A$100,000 taxable income, with no HELP debt and no hospital cover, estimated resident income tax is A$20,520 and the ordinary Medicare levy is A$2,000. The single-person MLS threshold is not crossed in this example, so the estimated take-home is A$77,480 a year, A$6,456.67 a month or A$2,980 per fortnight.
Input variations
| Scenario | Income tax | Medicare | MLS / HELP | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A$100,000, no HELP | A$20,520 | A$2,000 | A$0 | A$77,480 |
| A$100,000, HELP debt entered | A$20,520 | A$2,000 | A$4,570.80 HELP | A$72,909.20 |
| A$110,000, no hospital cover | A$23,520 | A$2,200 | A$1,100 MLS | A$83,180 |
| A$110,000, full-year hospital cover | A$23,520 | A$2,200 | A$0 MLS | A$84,280 |
The hospital-cover comparison only applies to the supported full-year single-person case. HELP is capped by the outstanding debt entered.
Differences from an assessment or payslip
An ATO assessment can include other income, capital gains, deductions, offsets, family MLS thresholds, partial-year residence or cover, and reportable amounts from several statements. A payslip instead follows PAYG withholding schedules and year-to-date payroll data. This annual estimate is not expected to reproduce either document line for line.
Thresholds and documents to check
Check taxable income against the individual tax return and income statement, HELP balance in ATO online services, private hospital policy dates and excess, and reportable fringe benefits, super contributions and investment losses on their source records. Review the final notice of assessment for income tax, Medicare, MLS and compulsory study-loan repayment.
Sources and unsupported cases
Resident bands come from the 2025 tax-cut legislation. Medicare parameters come from Withholding Schedules Instrument 2026. HELP indexation is documented in the ATO 2026 schedules release.
Foreign residents, working holiday makers, SAPTO, family Medicare thresholds, partial-year residency or cover, complex offsets, business income and capital gains are outside scope. Use an ATO service or registered tax agent for those cases.