PAYG Withholding Calculator Australia
Estimate the tax your employer withholds from each pay in the 2026-27 financial year, and see what happens when the year-end assessment squares it up.
Australian Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026-27
What Is PAYG Withholding?
The tax that leaves your pay before you see it.
PAYG (pay as you go) withholding is the amount your employer holds back from each pay and sends to the ATO on your behalf. It is not a separate tax. It is a pre-payment of the income tax you will owe for 2026-27, collected gradually across each pay cycle rather than in one lump at year end.
Every dollar withheld becomes a credit against your name. When you lodge your tax return, the ATO calculates your actual tax and subtracts that credit. More withheld than owed means a refund. Less withheld than owed means a bill. The withholding is the estimate; the assessment is the answer.
Most employers report each withholding amount to the ATO on payday through Single Touch Payroll (STP), which is why your income statement in myGov updates through the year. Source: ATO, PAYG withholding overview.
Estimate your withholding above or read the full PAYG withholding guide.
A $90,000 Salary, Per Fortnight
How Is PAYG Withholding Calculated?
Your employer does not guess. The ATO publishes the exact formulas.
Each payday, your employer (or their payroll software) looks up three things: how much you are being paid, how often you are paid, and what you declared on your TFN declaration. The declaration covers two questions that move the number most: whether you claim the tax-free threshold from this payer, and whether you have a study or training loan such as HECS-HELP.
Those inputs go into the ATO withholding schedules. The maths sits in Schedule 1, the Statement of formulas for calculating amounts to be withheld (NAT 1004). The same maths is published as ready-reference tax tables for each pay cycle. For 2026-27, all 15 withholding schedules and 12 tax tables were reissued from 1 July 2026. Source: ATO, Tax tables overview.
| Document | ATO number | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of formulas (Schedule 1) | NAT 1004 | The underlying formulas payroll software applies |
| Weekly tax table | NAT 1005 | Withholding per weekly pay |
| Fortnightly tax table | NAT 1006 | Withholding per fortnightly pay |
| Monthly tax table | NAT 1007 | Withholding per monthly pay |
| Daily and casual workers tax table | NAT 1024 | Withholding for daily and casual pays |
All 2026-27 editions apply from 1 July 2026 and reflect the 15% first bracket rate. Source: ATO, Tax tables overview.
The calculator on this page takes a different route to a very similar number: it annualises your pay and applies the 2026-27 annual rates. The schedules work in whole-dollar earnings steps and rounded amounts, so your payslip can differ from this estimate by a few dollars each pay. Over a full year on steady pay, the two approaches converge.
How Much Is Withheld at Common Salaries?
Estimated 2026-27 PAYG withholding for a resident claiming the tax-free threshold, no HECS-HELP debt.
| Salary | Income tax | Medicare levy | Withheld per year | Per week | Per fortnight | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $5,520 | $1,000 | $6,520 | $125 | $251 | $543 |
| $60,000 | $8,520 | $1,200 | $9,720 | $187 | $374 | $810 |
| $70,000 | $11,520 | $1,400 | $12,920 | $248 | $497 | $1,077 |
| $80,000 | $14,520 | $1,600 | $16,120 | $310 | $620 | $1,343 |
| $90,000 | $17,520 | $1,800 | $19,320 | $372 | $743 | $1,610 |
| $100,000 | $20,520 | $2,000 | $22,520 | $433 | $866 | $1,877 |
| $120,000 | $26,520 | $2,400 | $28,920 | $556 | $1,112 | $2,410 |
| $150,000 | $36,570 | $3,000 | $39,570 | $761 | $1,522 | $3,298 |
Computed from the 2026-27 resident rates and the 2% Medicare levy, rounded to the nearest dollar. Payday withholding excludes the low income tax offset, which the ATO applies at assessment, so earners under $66,667 (FY2026-27) usually see a small refund from it. Actual payslip amounts follow ATO Schedule 1 (NAT 1004) rounding. Source: ATO.
When Does Withholding Start?
If you claim the tax-free threshold, nothing is withheld until your pay clears these points.
Residents who claim the $18,200 tax-free threshold (FY2026-27) pay no tax until income passes it. The withholding schedules mirror that per pay cycle: a payer starts withholding once a pay exceeds the amounts below. Without the threshold claimed, withholding starts from the first dollar.
| Pay cycle | Withholding starts above | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | $363 | Tax-free threshold claimed with this payer |
| Fortnightly | $726 | Tax-free threshold claimed with this payer |
| Monthly | $1,573 | Tax-free threshold claimed with this payer |
| Any cycle, threshold not claimed | $0 | No-threshold rate applies from the first dollar |
Source: ATO, Multiple jobs or change of job (tax-free threshold start points).
How Does Withholding Differ From Your Final Tax?
Withholding is the payday estimate. The assessment is what you actually owe.
The payday schedules can only see one pay at a time. Your final tax is calculated once, on your whole-year taxable income, when you lodge. Nearly every refund and every surprise bill lives in the gap between those two calculations.
| PAYG withholding | End-of-year assessment | |
|---|---|---|
| When it happens | Every payday | After you lodge, from July each year |
| Based on | That single pay, annualised by the schedule | Actual taxable income for the whole year |
| Deductions | Not counted. Withholding runs on gross pay | Claimed at return time, including the $1,000 standard deduction from 2026-27 |
| Tax offsets | Not applied (for example LITO) | Applied against tax payable |
| Other income | Invisible to each payer | All income sources combined |
| Outcome | A credit that builds through the year | Refund if credit exceeds tax, bill if it falls short |
Sources: ATO, Why you may receive a tax bill; ATO, Claiming deductions.
Income that moves during the year widens the gap. Overtime, a bonus, a pay rise, or starting a job partway through the year all make the schedules over- or under-shoot. So does a second job where the tax-free threshold is claimed twice. If you want to see the year-end result of your own numbers, the tax refund calculator runs that comparison.
Who Uses This Calculator?
The same estimate answers four different questions.
New starters
You have a salary offer and want to know what each pay will look like after PAYG comes out, before the first payslip arrives.
Payslip checkers
The tax line on your payslip looks high. Comparing it against the 2026-27 estimate shows whether it is normal withholding or worth querying with payroll.
Second-job workers
Your second payer should withhold at the no-threshold rate. This page shows what the threshold is doing to each job, and the second job calculator splits it fully.
Small employers
A sanity check that payroll software is producing sensible 2026-27 amounts, before reconciling against ATO Schedule 1 (NAT 1004).
What Changed for Withholding on 1 July 2026?
Every schedule was reissued for 2026-27.
| Change | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | Effect on your pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| First marginal tax rate | 16% | 15% | Slightly less withheld each pay for most residents |
| Withholding schedules and tax tables | 2025-26 editions | 15 + 12 reissued | Employers must use the new editions from 1 July 2026 |
| HECS-HELP repayment threshold | $67,000 | $69,528 | Study-loan withholding starts later in the income scale |
| Standard work deduction | None | $1,000 | No change to withholding. Claimed at return time from July 2027 |
The rate cut comes from the Treasury Laws Amendment (More Cost of Living Relief) Act 2025. The reissued schedules also carry the indexed study loan thresholds. Sources: ATO, Tax tables overview; ATO, Standard deduction for work-related expenses.
Common PAYG Withholding Mistakes
The errors that turn into October surprises.
Claiming the threshold twice
Two payers both treating your first $18,200 (FY2026-27) as tax-free means too little withheld all year. It is the most common cause of a tax bill. Claim it from your highest payer only.
Treating withheld as final
Withholding is an estimate. Deductions, offsets and other income are settled at assessment, so the payslip total and the final tax rarely match to the dollar.
Not declaring a study loan
If your TFN declaration does not flag your HECS-HELP debt, no loan component is withheld. The full 2026-27 repayment then arrives as a bill. Check the HECS-HELP calculator for the amount.
Reading bonus withholding as a tax rate
Bonuses are withheld under ATO Schedule 5, which can hold back more than you finally owe. The overage returns at tax time. The bonus tax calculator separates the two numbers.
PAYG Withholding FAQ
Common questions about tax withheld from pay.
Sources for This Page
- ATO, PAYG withholding overview (ato.gov.au, businesses and organisations section).
- ATO, Tax tables overview: 15 withholding schedules and 12 tax tables updated from 1 July 2026.
- ATO, Schedule 1, Statement of formulas for calculating amounts to be withheld (NAT 1004); weekly (NAT 1005), fortnightly (NAT 1006), monthly (NAT 1007) and daily/casual (NAT 1024) tax tables.
- ATO, Multiple jobs or change of job: tax-free threshold and the $363 weekly, $726 fortnightly and $1,573 monthly start points.
- ATO, Why you may receive a tax bill; ATO, Claiming deductions.
- ATO, Personal income tax: new tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer (page last updated 13 May 2026): 16% rate reduced to 15% from 1 July 2026.
- ATO, Standard deduction for work-related expenses (page last updated 26 June 2026).
- Treasury Laws Amendment (More Cost of Living Relief) Act 2025; Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026.
Last verified 23 July 2026.