Tax Withheld Calculator
Estimate tax withheld from a regular pay and compare the result with a payslip.
Your pay
Use gross pay before tax for one regular pay period.
Your withholding estimate
Example inputsUnavailable. Check the highlighted fields to calculate your withholding.
- $598.00
- Includes the study-loan component and any additional withholding you enter.
- $2,402.00
- $0.00
- $598.00
- $2,402.00
| Gross taxable pay | $3,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Additional withholding | $0.00 |
| Other after-tax deductions | $0.00 |
Calculating PAYG Withholding
Pay as you go (PAYG) withholding depends on the pay date, pay frequency and the employee’s tax declaration. This tax withheld calculator applies the 2026-27 ordinary-pay schedules for weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly earnings.
The calculation follows the ATO withholding formulas in Schedules 1 and 8. It converts gross pay to a weekly equivalent, discards weekly cents and adds 99 cents before applying the relevant coefficients.
Each weekly component rounds to the nearest dollar, with 50 cents rounded up. The rounded amount then converts to the pay frequency. Monthly conversion includes the prescribed correction when gross pay ends in 33 cents.
Claimed tax offsets reduce eligible income-tax withholding. The study-loan component is calculated separately. When the no-tax-file-number rate applies, the calculation instead discards cents from earnings and from withholding.
Backpay, termination payments and bonuses or commissions covering more than one pay period need separate schedules. Add a bonus or commission relating to a single pay period to ordinary earnings.
The payment-type control removes the ordinary-pay result for separately treated payments. The same protection applies to low family-income Medicare variations.
Comparing the Result With a Payslip
Compare gross taxable pay with gross taxable pay, then reconcile tax withholding and other deductions separately. Employer super contributions do not form part of the cash pay used here.
This illustrative payslip uses the starting $3,000 fortnightly gross pay, resident status and a claimed tax-free threshold. A tax file number is supplied and no study-loan debt is declared.
| Payslip item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross taxable pay | $3,000.00 |
| PAYG withholding | $598.00 |
| Net pay after withholding | $2,402.00 |
| Other after-tax deductions, if entered | $100.00 |
| Pay after those deductions | $2,302.00 |
Enter $100 under other after-tax deductions to reproduce the final row. A salary-sacrifice arrangement changes taxable gross pay, so subtract that amount before entering gross pay.
If payroll tax differs, match the declaration settings and identify any irregular payment or agreed additional withholding. The downloaded CSV keeps the inputs and modelled components together for an Excel comparison.
Withholding and Final Tax Liability
Withholding is a credit towards the employee’s final tax assessment. A regular-pay estimate does not reconcile all income and deductions for the year.
Changing jobs, uneven year-to-date earnings or a second job can change annual tax. Deductions, offsets and other income can also produce a refund or an amount to pay. Study-loan withholding is reconciled with the compulsory repayment assessment.
Extra weekly or fortnightly pays can create a shortfall because the ordinary schedules assume 52 weekly or 26 fortnightly pays. Enter any agreed extra amount under additional withholding.
The withholding schedules apply nationally, including New South Wales. State payroll tax is an employer tax and does not replace the employee’s PAYG calculation.
Use the schedule for the actual pay date when checking a historical payslip. A 2025 or 2019 payment needs that period’s rules. A 2027 pay date belongs here only while it falls within the supported 2026-27 financial year.