Free calculators for Australian income tax, capital gains, Medicare levy, FBT, PAYG withholding, salary, overtime, redundancy, super contributions, Division 293, and more — all updated for 2025–26.
Most people arrive here with a specific question rather than a category. This table maps the question to the tool.
| Your question | Use this |
|---|---|
| What will my take-home pay be? | Salary Calculator |
| How much income tax do I owe this year? | Income Tax Calculator |
| Will I get a refund or a bill? | Tax Return Estimator |
| How much tax on shares or property I sold? | CGT Calculator |
| How much tax on my crypto? | Crypto Tax Calculator |
| Am I paying the Medicare levy surcharge? | Medicare Levy Calculator |
| Is salary sacrificing worth it for me? | Super Contributions Calculator |
| Do I pay the extra tax on super contributions? | Division 293 Calculator |
| What am I owed if I'm made redundant? | Redundancy Calculator |
| Should I take the contract or the salaried role? | Contractor vs Employee |
| What does my salary-packaged car actually cost? | FBT Calculator |
| What tax will my employer withhold? | PAYG Withholding Calculator |
Three ideas explain most of the confusion people have about their own tax. None of them is complicated, and each is misunderstood by a great many taxpayers.
Australia applies a progressive, marginal system. Each bracket's rate applies only to the portion of your income that falls inside that bracket — not to your entire income.
If you cross a threshold, only the dollars above it are taxed at the higher rate. Every dollar below stays exactly where it was.
Where thresholds genuinely bite is in things that are not marginal — the Medicare levy surcharge, HECS-HELP repayment thresholds, Division 293, and some family assistance payments. Those have real cliffs. The income tax brackets do not.
A $1,000 deduction does not reduce your tax by $1,000. It reduces your taxable income by $1,000, and the tax you save is $1,000 multiplied by your marginal rate.
This is why spending money purely to obtain a deduction leaves you worse off. You spent the whole amount to recover a fraction of it.
An offset is different. An offset reduces the tax payable directly, dollar for dollar, though most offsets are non-refundable — they can reduce your tax to zero but will not generate a refund beyond that.
PAYG withholding is designed to withhold slightly more than most people's final liability. A refund is the return of an overpayment you made across the year, held without interest until you lodged.
This also explains why a bonus appears to be taxed savagely. Withholding schedules annualise the pay period, calculating tax as though you earned that amount every fortnight. Nothing is lost — the excess is reconciled when you lodge.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 July | The income tax year begins. New rates, thresholds, and the super guarantee rate take effect. |
| Early–mid July | Pre-fill data from employers, banks, and health funds begins loading. Lodging before it lands commonly forces an amendment later. |
| 30 June | The income tax year ends. Deductible expenses must generally be incurred by this date, and contributions must be received by your fund, not merely sent. |
| 31 October | Lodgment deadline if you lodge your own return. Registered tax agents generally have later dates, but you must be on their client list before this date. |
| 1 April – 31 March | The FBT year, which does not align with the income tax year. This trips up salary packaging calculations. |
Tax rules apply differently depending on how you earn. Find yourself below.
Your employer withholds PAYG tax and pays super guarantee contributions. Most of your tax is settled before you see the money, and lodging reconciles the difference.
The things worth checking: that your payslip's year-to-date figures are right, that the super shown was actually paid into your fund rather than merely accrued, and that you are claiming deductions you are genuinely entitled to and can substantiate.
Calculators: Salary · PAYG Withholding · Overtime & Penalty Rates · Pay Rise Impact
Guides: How to read your payslip · Work from home deductions · Income tax explained
No tax is withheld for you, and generally no super is paid on your behalf. The two failures that hurt most are not setting tax aside as income arrives, and misunderstanding whether you are genuinely a contractor at all — a question determined by the nature of the working relationship, not by the label on the agreement or by holding an ABN.
Calculators: Contractor vs Employee · GST · Income Tax
Guides: GST explained · Margin vs markup
Capital gains tax applies when you dispose of an asset — and disposal includes swapping one cryptocurrency for another, gifting, and spending crypto on goods. It is not limited to selling for Australian dollars.
Holding an asset beyond twelve months may qualify an individual's gain for the CGT discount. Losses offset capital gains only, never salary, and are applied before the discount.
Calculators: CGT · Crypto Tax · Land Tax · Rental Property · Depreciation
Guides: CGT complete guide · Crypto tax · Negative gearing · Depreciation rates
Concessional contributions are generally taxed at a concessional rate rather than your marginal rate, which is the entire reason salary sacrifice works. Your employer's super guarantee counts toward the same cap — the most common cause of accidentally exceeding it.
Calculators: Super Contributions · Division 293 · Co-Contribution · Spouse Contribution · Withdrawal Tax · Insurance Adequacy
Guides: Salary sacrifice · Contribution caps · Division 293 · Withdrawal rules · TTR pensions · SMSFs
A payout is several payments, taxed differently. Only the genuine redundancy severance component attracts the tax-free base and per-year amounts. Payment in lieu of notice and accrued leave are taxed under their own rules, and superannuation is generally not payable on the severance component.
A large payout can also trigger a Centrelink income maintenance period, delaying access to support at exactly the wrong moment.
Calculators: Redundancy Pay · Income Tax
Guides: Redundancy entitlements
The employer pays fringe benefits tax, but the reportable fringe benefits amount lands on your income statement. It is not taxed directly, and it is added back for the Medicare levy surcharge, HECS-HELP repayment income, Division 293, and some family payments.
A packaged car can therefore increase your HECS repayment and reduce your family payments without appearing in your taxable income at all.
Calculators: FBT · HECS-HELP
Guides: FBT explained · HECS-HELP repayment · Medicare levy surcharge
Deductions are denied far more often for lack of substantiation than for ineligibility. The ATO generally expects records to be kept for five years from the date you lodge, and longer where an asset's cost base matters.
Every calculator above answers a number. These guides explain the rules behind it.
Does moving into a higher tax bracket mean all my income is taxed at the higher rate?
No. Australia uses a marginal tax system, so each bracket's rate applies only to the portion of income that falls within that bracket. Income below the threshold continues to be taxed at the lower rates. A pay rise that crosses a threshold cannot reduce your overall take-home pay from income tax alone.
Is a tax deduction the same as a refund?
No. A deduction reduces your taxable income, not your tax bill directly. The tax you save equals the deduction multiplied by your marginal rate. A tax offset is different, reducing the tax payable directly, though most offsets are non-refundable and cannot reduce your tax below zero.
When do I pay tax on cryptocurrency in Australia?
Generally when a CGT event occurs, which means when you dispose of the asset. Disposal includes selling for Australian dollars, swapping one cryptocurrency for another, spending crypto on goods or services, and gifting it. Simply holding crypto, or moving it between wallets you control, is not a disposal.
Does salary sacrificing into super reduce my HECS-HELP repayment?
Generally no. Salary sacrificed contributions are usually reportable employer superannuation contributions, and reportable contributions are added back into the repayment income used to calculate your compulsory HECS-HELP repayment. The same applies to the Medicare levy surcharge income test.
Do my employer's super contributions count toward the concessional contributions cap?
Yes. The concessional cap covers compulsory employer super guarantee contributions, salary sacrifice amounts, and any personal contributions you claim as a deduction. Overlooking the employer component is the most common reason people unintentionally exceed the cap.
Is my whole redundancy payout tax free?
No. Only the genuine redundancy severance component is tax free, up to a limit made up of a base amount plus an amount for each completed year of service. Payment in lieu of notice and accrued leave payouts are taxed under separate rules, and superannuation is generally not payable on the severance component.
When is the deadline to lodge my Australian tax return?
If you lodge your own return, the deadline is generally 31 October. If you use a registered tax agent, later lodgment dates generally apply, but you must be on the agent's client list before 31 October to access them.
How long do I need to keep tax records?
Generally five years from the date you lodge the relevant return. For capital gains tax assets such as shares, property, and crypto, keep acquisition records for five years after you dispose of the asset, since the cost base must be substantiated at that point.
Can I offset a capital loss against my salary?
No. Capital losses can only be offset against capital gains, either in the same income year or carried forward to future years. They cannot reduce your salary or wages income. Losses are applied before any CGT discount, not after.
Are these calculators a substitute for advice from a tax agent?
No. These calculators are educational tools that produce estimates based on the information you enter and general rules. They cannot account for your full circumstances, and tax rates and thresholds change. Verify current figures with the ATO and speak with a registered tax agent before making decisions or lodging.
The rules described on this page are drawn from official Australian sources. Where a figure changes annually — rates, thresholds, caps, indexation — we point you to the authority rather than restating a number that may have moved.
Read more about how we build and check our calculators, or about who writes this site.
Important: MegaCalcOnline provides general information and educational calculators only. Nothing here is tax, financial, or legal advice, and it does not take your personal circumstances into account. Tax rates, thresholds, and superannuation caps change — some of them every year. Verify current figures with the ATO, and speak with a registered tax agent or a licensed financial adviser before acting on anything you read or calculate here.
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