Your salary is not your income.

Your income is what actually lands in your account after tax, Medicare and HECS take their cut – and most people have no idea what that number is.

Punch in your salary. Get the real number in two seconds.

What just happened to your salary

Australia runs a marginal tax system, which means your income is taxed in slices, not all at one rate.

For 2026-27, the slices look like this: nothing on your first $18,200. Then 15 cents per dollar up to $45,000 – that rate dropped from 16 cents on 1 July 2026, which is why your first payslip of the new financial year looked slightly better. Then 30 cents per dollar up to $135,000, 37 cents to $190,000, and 45 cents above that.

On top of income tax sits the Medicare levy – a flat 2% of your taxable income for most workers.

And if you ticked the HECS box, there’s a third deduction. Since July 2025 HECS repayments work like tax brackets too – you only repay on income above $69,528, not on your whole salary. More on that on our HECS calculator page.

The number that matters more than your payrise

Here’s the thing nobody tells you when you negotiate salary.

A $10,000 payrise on a $90,000 salary doesn’t give you $10,000. After 30% tax and 2% Medicare, you keep about $6,800. Add a HECS debt and you keep about $5,300.

That’s not a reason to stop chasing payrises. It’s a reason to understand that every dollar you keep and invest is worth more than every dollar you earn. A dollar saved skips the tax office entirely.

This is the exact logic that took me from $0 to $212,000 in 71 months – documented publicly the whole way. Cash flow first. Assets second. Everything else third.

FAQ

Does this include superannuation? Your employer’s 12% super is paid on top of your salary, not out of it – the calculator shows it as a separate line so you can see your full package.

Why is my actual payslip slightly different? Payroll systems use ATO withholding schedules which approximate your annual tax per pay cycle. Things like the low income tax offset, salary packaging and the Medicare levy surcharge can also shift the final number at tax time.

Did tax rates change this year? Yes – the second bracket rate dropped from 16% to 15% on 1 July 2026, worth up to $268 a year. Another cut to 14% is already legislated for July 2027.

Want the playbook, not just the number?

Knowing your take-home pay is step one. Turning it into your first $100K is the actual game. I wrote the entire playbook – every side hustle, every number, every mistake – in The First $100K. Get it at moneybren.com/thefirst100k