Tax Withheld Calculator Australia

How PAYG withholding is calculated

Pay as you go (PAYG) withholding is the tax your employer takes out of each payment and sends to the ATO. The amount is not a flat percentage. It comes from ATO withholding schedules that apply the progressive tax rates and the Medicare levy to your pay cycle, with a formula that converts your pay to a weekly equivalent first.

Weekly withholding = round(a × x − b), where x is the whole dollars of weekly pay plus $0.99, and a and b come from the ATO Schedule 1 band for that weekly amount. Fortnightly pay is halved to a weekly equivalent, then the weekly withholding is doubled.

For 2026–27, the schedule reflects the 15% rate on taxable income between $18,201 and $45,000, the 30% rate to $135,000, 37% to $190,000 and 45% above that. Medicare is built into the table, including a shaded-in low-income zone. That is why the effective withholding rate on a $1,500 weekly pay is about 20%, not 30%: the first $18,200 of annual income is tax-free, and the lower brackets still apply to part of the income.

The tax-free threshold and why it matters

The tax-free threshold means the first $18,200 of taxable income is not taxed. You claim it by ticking the relevant box on your Tax File Number declaration. You should claim it on one job only. If you claim it on two jobs, both employers withhold as though that job is your main income, and you usually end up with a bill when you lodge your return.

On the withholding schedule, claiming the threshold shifts you to a different scale. The no-threshold scale starts withholding from a much lower weekly amount and does not give you the benefit of the $18,200 tax-free zone. For a $1,500 weekly pay, the 2026–27 difference is $110 a week, or $5,720 a year. That extra withholding is not a penalty: it is a prepayment of the tax you will owe on your combined income.

If you have a second job, a rental property, share dividends or another source of income, use the second job tax calculator to see whether the extra withholding is enough to cover the tax on your combined income.

Weekly and fortnightly withholding schedules

The ATO publishes separate tables for weekly, fortnightly and monthly pay. They are designed to produce roughly the same annual withholding across pay cycles, but the rounding works differently. Weekly pay is rounded to the nearest dollar each week. Fortnightly withholding is the rounded weekly figure doubled, so every fortnightly amount is an even number of dollars.

If your pay date is on or after 1 July 2026, the 2026–27 schedule applies even if the work was done in the previous financial year. The ATO goes by the date the payment is made, not the period the work covers. If you receive 27 fortnightly pays or 53 weekly pays in a year, the ATO has special instructions to avoid over-withholding; this calculator assumes a standard 52-week or 26-fortnight year.

What withholding does not include

The weekly and fortnightly tables include income tax and the Medicare levy. They do not include compulsory HELP or other study loan repayments, which are calculated under a separate schedule and added on top. They also do not reflect salary sacrifice, reportable fringe benefits, deductions you plan to claim, the private health insurance rebate, or a Medicare levy exemption or reduction.

Your final tax is based on your total taxable income for the year, not on the amount withheld from any single pay. A bonus, overtime, a pay rise or a second job can all change your final liability. If your income changes significantly during the year, you can ask the ATO for a withholding variation or adjust your declaration so you are not left with a large bill or a large refund.

Weekly withholding examples for 2026–27

Amounts include income tax and the Medicare levy, assume no study loan, no deductions and no salary sacrifice. They are taken directly from the ATO Schedule 1 formula used by the calculator.

For fortnightly pay, simply double the weekly figures for a standard 26-pay year. Actual amounts can differ because of rounding, payroll settings and any declarations you have made.

Checking your payslip

Compare the tax line on your payslip with the result above. If the difference is small, rounding or a slightly different pay period is the likely cause. If it is large, check whether your employer has applied the tax-free threshold, whether a study loan component has been added, whether salary sacrifice is in place, and whether the pay includes overtime, penalties or allowances that are treated as ordinary earnings.

For a full annual picture including super and HELP, use the salary calculator. To estimate whether your yearly withholding is enough, use the tax return calculator. To see the specific effect of a one-off payment, use thebonus tax calculator.