PAYG Tax Withheld Calculator 2026–27

This PAYG calculator estimates how much tax your employer should withhold from each weekly, fortnightly or monthly pay in the 2026–27 financial year. Enter the gross amount from your payslip, pick your pay cycle and match the two boxes to the answers you gave on your TFN declaration. The result shows the tax taken out of each pay, what should land in your bank account and how much will be withheld across the whole year.

Use it to check a payslip, to see what a new job offer means per pay, or to work out whether you are likely to get a refund or a bill when you lodge.

What is PAYG withholding?

PAYG stands for pay as you go. Instead of asking you to pay a year of income tax in one lump sum, the tax system makes your employer collect it a little at a time from every pay and send it to the ATO. When you lodge your tax return, everything withheld during the year is credited against the tax you actually owe.

Because withholding is only a running estimate, it rarely matches your final tax bill to the dollar. If too much was taken out, the difference comes back as a refund. If too little was taken out, you pay the gap. Our full take-home pay breakdown shows that end-of-year position for your whole salary, while this PAYG tool focuses on one pay at a time.

How to use the PAYG tax calculator

1. Gross pay this pay period: the amount before tax shown on your payslip, including overtime and allowances paid in that period.
2. Pay period: weekly, fortnightly or monthly, matching how often you are paid.
3. Tax-free threshold: leave this ticked if you answered “yes” to claiming it on your TFN declaration for this job.
4. HELP or study loan: tick this if you have a HELP, VET Student Loan, Student Start-up Loan or Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan debt and told your employer about it.

The result updates as you type. The effective withholding rate shows tax as a share of your gross pay, which is always lower than your marginal tax rate.

A worked example: $2,500 a fortnight

Say you earn $2,500 before tax every fortnight and claim the tax-free threshold. Over 26 pays that is $65,000 a year.

• Income tax on $65,000 at 2026–27 rates is $10,020.
• The low income tax offset reduces it by $25, to $9,995.
• The Medicare levy is 2%, or $1,300.
• Total for the year: $11,295, or about $434 a fortnight.

So roughly $434 is withheld each payday and $2,066 lands in your account. If you did not claim the threshold on this job, withholding would jump to about $540 a fortnight, which is why the TFN declaration matters so much.

PAYG withholding table for fortnightly pay

The table shows typical fortnightly gross pays for 2026–27, with and without the tax-free threshold. It assumes no study loan.

Paid every week instead? The weekly pay after tax tool also lets you start from an hourly rate and the hours on your timesheet.

How employers work out PAYG withholding

Employers do not guess. They use the ATO's tax tables or the formulas behind them. The formulas convert your pay into a weekly equivalent, apply a straight-line equation for your income band, then round the answer to the nearest dollar. Payroll software does this automatically.

From 1 July 2026 the ATO tables were updated for the lower 15% rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000, so most employees saw slightly less tax taken out of each pay than in 2025–26. Study loan scales were updated at the same time.

The tables come in scales that depend on your TFN declaration. The most common are:

• Tax-free threshold claimed: the first $18,200 of yearly income is treated as untaxed.
• Tax-free threshold not claimed: tax is withheld from the first dollar, usually for a second job.
• Foreign resident: no tax-free threshold and different rates.
• No TFN provided: 47% for residents and 45% for foreign residents.

The tax-free threshold question

Ticking “yes” to the tax-free threshold tells your employer to leave the first $18,200 of yearly income untaxed. The ATO's guidance is that you generally claim it from only one payer, usually the one that pays you the most. If you have two jobs and your combined income will be more than $18,200, your second employer should withhold at the higher no-threshold rate.

Students, people who start work part-way through the year and anyone with a second job often get this wrong. Our guide to how the $18,200 rule works walks through each situation with examples.

When withholding goes wrong

Too much tax withheld

The usual causes are not claiming the threshold on your only job, a one-off payment such as a bonus, or starting work late in the financial year. To fix future pays, give your employer a new TFN declaration. Anything already over-withheld comes back as a refund when you lodge.

Too little tax withheld

This usually happens when two employers both apply the threshold, or when you earn side income with no tax taken out. The ATO lets you ask one or more payers, in writing, to increase the amount they withhold. Some people simply set money aside instead.

HELP and other study loans

Once your yearly repayment income passes $69,528 in 2026–27, your employer adds a compulsory study loan amount. Under the marginal system only the income above that threshold is used, so the extra starts small. On a salary of $85,000, for example, about $89 a fortnight is added for HELP.

Years with an extra pay

Withholding tables assume 52 weekly or 26 fortnightly pays. In the occasional year with 53 or 27 pay days, your employer should let you know, and you can ask for a small extra amount to be withheld so you are not short at tax time. The fortnightly pay calculator estimates that gap for you.

Where to see the tax withheld for the year

Every pay should come with a payslip showing gross pay, tax withheld and super. Under Single Touch Payroll, your employer also reports these figures to the ATO each payday. At the end of the year you can see the totals as an income statement in your ATO online account through myGov. When the statement is marked “tax ready”, the figures are final and can be used in your return.

PAYG calculator FAQs

Is PAYG withholding the same as income tax?

No. PAYG withholding is a prepayment. Your employer sends part of each pay to the ATO, and when you lodge your tax return those payments are credited against the income tax and Medicare levy you actually owe for the year.

How much tax is withheld if I don't give my employer a TFN?

If you are an Australian resident and do not provide a tax file number, your employer must withhold at 47% of every dollar, which is the top tax rate plus the Medicare levy. Foreign residents without a TFN have 45% withheld. Give your TFN to stop this.

Should I claim the tax-free threshold on my second job?

Generally no. The ATO says you usually claim the threshold from one payer only, normally the one that pays you most. If your combined income from all jobs will be more than $18,200, tell your other employers not to apply it.

Can I ask my employer to take out more tax?

Yes. You can ask in writing for an employer to withhold extra from each pay. This is useful if you have side income, a second job or a large HELP debt and want to avoid a bill at tax time.

Why is my tax withheld a few dollars different from this calculator?

Employers use the ATO's withholding formulas, which work on weekly equivalents and round the result to the nearest dollar. This calculator spreads your yearly tax evenly across your pays, so small differences are normal.

Does PAYG withholding include super?

No. Employer super guarantee contributions of 12% are paid on top of your wage and are not part of the tax withheld from your pay.