Pay rise calculator 2026-27
This pay rise calculator shows what a percentage or dollar raise adds to take-home pay per week, month and year, using 2026-27 ATO resident tax rates (opens in a new tab). A 4.5% raise on $72,000 adds $3,240 before tax and $2,203.20 after tax.
The link carries the numbers you entered, so anyone who opens it sees the same result.
2026-27 key figures
- Tax-free threshold
- $18,200
- Medicare levy
- 2%
- Low income tax offset
- Up to $700
- Top rate
- 45% over $190,000
Extra take-home pay per year
$2,203.20
From a $3,240 rise, taking you to $75,240
- You keep 68.0%
- Tax 32.0%
Breakdown
A 4.5% rise: tax on your current and new salary.
| Item | Current | New | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | $72,000 | $75,240 | $3,240 |
| Income tax before offsets | $12,120 | $13,092 | $972 |
| Low income tax offset | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Medicare levy | $1,440 | $1,504.80 | $64.80 |
| Total tax | $13,560 | $14,596.80 | $1,036.80 |
| Take-home pay | $58,440 | $60,643.20 | $2,203.20 |
- Extra per fortnight
- $84.74
- Extra per week
- $42.37
- New salary
- $75,240
- Gross rise per year
- $3,240
- Tax on the rise
- $1,036.80
- Tax on the rise (%)
- 32%
- Incl. Medicare levy
- Extra per month
- $183.60
- Extra employer super
- $388.80
- Paid on top
Why a 5% gross raise is not 5% more take-home
Tax takes a bigger share of the raise than of your existing pay. Your current salary is taxed at an average rate, but the raise is taxed entirely at your marginal rate.
- Average rate on $72,000
- 18.83%
- Tax on the $3,240 raise30% income tax plus the 2% Medicare levy
- 32%
- Rise in take-home, not 4.5%You keep 68 cents of each extra dollar
- 3.77%
A raise quoted in dollars converts the same way. $3,000 on $72,000 is a 4.17% raise and adds $2,040 to take-home. A 5% raise on $72,000 adds $3,600 gross and $2,448 after tax, which is 4.19% more take-home.
What the raise does to super and your weekly payslip
Counting super, the raise is worth more than the salary line shows. Employer super rises by $388.80, so the total cost of the raise to your employer is $3,628.80.
On a weekly payslip, gross pay rises from $1,384.62 to $1,446.92. Schedule 1 withholding rises from $261 to $281, so take-home goes from $1,123.62 to $1,165.92, up $42.30.
Moving into a higher bracket only affects the extra dollars
A raise that crosses a tax threshold never lowers your take-home, because only the dollars above the threshold are taxed at the higher rate. The Medicare levy surcharge is the exception: it applies to your whole income once you pass its threshold.
Say a 4.5% raise on $132,000 lifts salary to $137,940. The first $3,000 of the raise is taxed at 30%, and the $2,940 above $135,000 at 37%. Medicare adds 2% on the whole raise.
$132,000 with a 4.5% raise
Before
- Gross salary
- $132,000
- Income tax
- $30,120.00
- Tax and Medicare
- $32,760.00
- Take-home a year
- $99,240.00
After
- Gross salary
- $137,940
- Income tax
- $32,107.80
- Tax and Medicare
- $34,866.60
- Take-home a year
- $103,073.40
Change
- Gross salary
- +$5,940.00
- Income tax
- +$1,987.80
- Tax and Medicare
- +$2,106.60
- Take-home a year
- +$3,833.40
You keep 64.5 cents of each raise dollar in that example, against 68 cents for a raise that stays below $135,000. Your marginal tax rates set that share, and they include the Medicare levy and any offsets phasing out.
The same rule applies at the top threshold. A 4.5% raise on $185,000 is $8,325, and the $3,325 above $190,000 is taxed at 45%. Take-home still rises by $4,812.25, which is 57.8 cents per raise dollar.
HECS, LITO and Medicare changes that eat into a raise
HELP repayments, the low income tax offset phase-out and the Medicare levy surcharge each change the share of a raise dollar you keep.
With a HELP debt, the $72,000 earner repays $370.80 before the raise and $856.80 after it. The 2026-27 system charges 15 cents for each dollar above $69,528, so the raise costs 47 cents in the dollar: 30% tax, 2% Medicare and 15% HELP.
| $72,000 with a 4.5% raise, HELP debt | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compulsory HELP repayment | $370.80 | $856.80 | +$486.00 |
| Take-home a year | $58,069.20 | $59,786.40 | +$1,717.20 |
| Share of the raise kept | n/a | n/a | 53% |
Higher up the scale the HELP rate is 17 cents per dollar above $129,717. Combined with 37% tax above $135,000 and the 2% Medicare levy, a raise there keeps only 44 cents in the dollar. On $140,000, a 4.5% raise of $6,300 adds $2,772 to take-home and $1,071 to HELP repayments.
The repayment reduces your debt, so the money isn't lost. It does mean take-home rises 2.96% instead of 3.77%.
Below $66,667 the LITO shrinks as income rises. A 4.5% raise on $40,000 is $1,800, but the offset falls from $575 to $485. Tax and Medicare rise by $396, so you keep $1,404, or 78 cents per dollar.
Between $37,500 and $45,000 the effective rate is 22%: 15% tax, 5% LITO phase-out and 2% Medicare.
Singles without private hospital cover pay the surcharge once income passes $105,000. A 4.5% raise on $102,000 lifts income to $106,590, which triggers a 1% surcharge on the whole amount: $1,065.90.
The raise adds $3,121.20 to take-home before the surcharge and $2,055.30 after it. A small raise near the threshold can leave you behind: going from $104,500 to $105,500 adds $680 after tax but triggers a $1,055 surcharge.
What the raise estimate does not show
The comparison assumes your raise applies for the full year and nothing else changes.
- A raise part-way through the year only lifts income for the months after it starts. The same 4.5% from 1 January 2027 adds $1,620 to 2026-27 income and $1,101.60 to take-home.
- Salary sacrifice, deductions and other income change both the old and new figures.
- Super inside a package means part of the raise goes to super, not salary.
- The Medicare levy surcharge is included only when you say you hold no private hospital cover.
- Low-income Medicare levy reductions use the latest announced (2025-26) threshold of $28,011.
Other changes to pay have their own tools.
- Pro rata salary calculatorPart-time or part-year pay from a full-time salary.
- Bonus tax calculatorThe tax on a one-off payment.
- Hourly to salary calculatorAn hourly rate as a yearly figure.
- Overtime calculatorWhat extra hours pay before and after tax.
Pay rise questions: percentages, backdated raises, super and $100 a week more
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Last reviewed
How do I calculate a pay increase as a percentage?
Subtract the old salary from the new one, divide by the old salary, then multiply by 100. Going from $72,000 to $75,240 is $3,240 ÷ $72,000 × 100 = 4.5%. Do the same with take-home pay to see the after-tax increase, which is 3.77% in that example.
How do I calculate a salary increase from a percentage?
Multiply your salary by 1 plus the raise as a decimal. A 4.5% raise on $72,000 is $72,000 × 1.045 = $75,240. The raise is $3,240 before tax. At a 32% marginal rate you keep $2,203.20, or $42.37 a week.
How is a backdated pay rise taxed?
It's taxed at your marginal rate in the year you receive it. A 4.5% raise backdated three months on $72,000 is a lump sum of $810, and actual tax on it is about $259.20. Employers work out the withholding with the ATO's Schedule 5 back payment methods.
Does a pay rise increase my super?
Yes, if super is paid on top of salary. The 12% super guarantee applies to the new salary, so a $3,240 raise on $72,000 adds $388.80 a year to super. If your $72,000 is a package that includes super, the same 4.5% raise splits into $2,892.86 of salary and $347.14 of super.
How much more do I need to earn for $100 a week extra take-home?
On a 32% marginal rate, divide by 0.68. $100 a week after tax needs $147.06 a week before tax, or $7,647 a year. With a HELP debt in the 15% band, you keep 53 cents per dollar, so the gross raise needed is larger.
Estimates only, based on published rates for 2026-27. General information, not tax or financial advice.
Keep going
Sources
- ATO: Tax rates: Australian residents (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Study and training support loans: repayment thresholds (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Low income tax offset (opens in a new tab)
- ATO: Medicare levy surcharge income thresholds and rates (opens in a new tab)
- ABS: Average Weekly Earnings, May 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Provisional: the Medicare levy low-income thresholds ($28,011 and $35,013) are carried over from the previous financial year until the ATO publishes the 2026-27 figures.