Salary Packaging Calculator Australia
See what packaging pre-tax salary into super or an FBT-exempt benefit does to your take-home pay, and the income tax and Medicare levy you save in 2026-27.
Salary Packaging Calculator 2026-27
What Is Salary Packaging?
Swapping after-tax income for a benefit your employer pays from your pre-tax salary.
Salary packaging, also called salary sacrifice, is an arrangement where you receive less after-tax income in return for your employer paying for benefits out of your pre-tax salary. Because the packaged amount leaves your taxable income, your income tax and Medicare levy are worked out on the smaller figure. Our salary packaging explained guide walks through the categories in full.
Moneysmart’s example is a $100,000 salary packaged as $85,000 of income plus $15,000 of car expenses paid as a benefit. Taxable income falls to $85,000, so you may pay less income tax. On the 2026-27 resident scale that $15,000 sits in the 30% bracket, so packaging it saves $4,500 of income tax and $300 of Medicare levy, a total of $4,800, provided the benefit is FBT-exempt.
The catch is Fringe Benefits Tax. For a normal, non-exempt benefit the employer pays FBT at a rate designed to match the top marginal rate on the grossed-up value, which can cancel the income tax saving. That is why this tool assumes an FBT-exempt or concessionally-taxed benefit, and why packaging works best for super, for exempt items, for FBT-concession employers, or for an eligible electric car. Compare it with the simpler super route on our salary sacrifice calculator.
$15,000 of Pre-Tax Pay on a $100,000 Salary
What Actually Saves Tax?
Four kinds of packaging where the saving survives Fringe Benefits Tax.
Super salary sacrifice
Taxed at 15%
- Pre-tax salary goes into your super fund
- Taxed at a flat 15% inside the fund, not your marginal rate
- Most employers offer it to all staff
- Counts toward the $32,500 concessional cap
FBT-exempt items
No FBT for the employer
- Portable electronic devices like a work laptop or phone
- Computer software and protective clothing
- Tools of trade used mainly for work
- Full income tax and Medicare saving, nothing clawed back
Not-for-profit and health employers
FBT concessions
- Not-for-profit, health and charity employers have FBT concessions or exemptions
- Makes packaging far more valuable for their staff
- Can cover benefits ordinary employers cannot offer
- Ask your employer what your capping arrangement is
FBT-exempt electric cars
Via a novated lease
- Eligible battery or hydrogen electric cars are FBT-exempt
- The car and running costs can run from pre-tax salary
- See our novated lease guide for the rules
- Still a reportable benefit for income tests
Tax Saving on Packaged Salary by Marginal Rate
Packaging $5,000 of an FBT-exempt benefit, run through the 2026-27 resident scale at each bracket. No HECS-HELP debt assumed.
| Salary | Marginal rate + levy | Income tax saved | Medicare saved | Total saved per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | 17% | $875 | $101 | $976 |
| $60,000 | 32% | $1,575 | $100 | $1,675 |
| $90,000 | 32% | $1,500 | $100 | $1,600 |
| $120,000 | 32% | $1,500 | $100 | $1,600 |
| $160,000 | 39% | $1,850 | $100 | $1,950 |
| $200,000 | 47% | $2,250 | $100 | $2,350 |
Computed from the 2026-27 resident brackets, LITO and the 2% Medicare levy. The saving rises with your marginal rate. Between $45,000 and $66,667 the LITO taper, and below $35,013 the Medicare levy shade-in, make some rows differ from the headline marginal rate. Figures assume the benefit is FBT-exempt; a non-exempt benefit can attract FBT that cancels the saving.
The Fringe Benefits Tax Catch
The single rule that decides whether packaging is worth it.
Novated leases and other fringe benefits are more complex than super salary sacrifice, and the FBT treatment turns on the exact benefit, its value and your employer. Confirm what your employer actually offers, and get advice from a registered tax agent before you commit. A registered tax agent can tell you whether a specific benefit is exempt, concessionally taxed, or not worth packaging at all.
Salary Packaging FAQ
The questions people ask before they package part of their pay.
Sources
The documents behind every figure on this page.
- Moneysmart (ASIC), Salary packaging (benefit categories, novated lease, the $100,000 example, FBT catch), last updated 14 July 2026.
- ATO, Electric cars exemption (FBT exemption for eligible battery and hydrogen electric cars, running costs, reportable benefit, PHEV cut-off), last updated 1 April 2026.
- ATO, Salary sacrificing for employees (arrangement must be prospective; pre-tax packaging reduces taxable income).
- ATO, Key superannuation rates and thresholds: contributions caps (concessional cap $32,500 for 2026-27), last updated 24 April 2026.
- Moneysmart (ASIC), Tax and super (15% contributions tax on concessional super), last updated 18 June 2026.
- ATO, Study and training support loans rates and repayment thresholds (repayment income includes reportable fringe benefits and reportable super contributions).
Last verified 24 July 2026.
Run Your Own Numbers
Free, instant, on the 2026-27 rates. Model any FBT-exempt packaging amount.
Calculate My Salary Packaging