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Estimate your tax refund or amount owing by comparing tax withheld (PAYG) to your calculated tax liability.
Your taxable income after deductions (from your tax return or notice of assessment).
Total PAYG withheld from your payslips for the year (from your payment summary).
Optional. Included in HELP repayment income. Leave 0 if not applicable.
Work-related expenses (2026-27 standard deduction)
From 2026-27, the standard deduction gives you $1,000 of work-expense deduction less whatever you already claim. Fill these in and the estimate applies it. Leave them blank and it will not.
Gross for the year, before deductions. Business or investment income does not count — the standard deduction only reaches pay an employer withholds tax from.
Car, travel between workplaces, tools, work-from-home running costs, self-education. Already included in the taxable income above. These reduce the standard deduction dollar for dollar.
Union or professional association fees, and income protection, personal sickness or accident insurance premiums. The rule disregards these, so they stack on top of the $1,000 instead of eating into it. Enter them here, not above.
Appropriate cover for full year — no Medicare Levy Surcharge
Repayment calculated from repayment income
Tax Withheld
$15,000
Total Tax Liability
$14,200
Estimated Refund
$800
You may receive this back after lodging your return.
This is an estimate only. Your actual refund or amount owing depends on your full return (deductions, offsets, other income). Use the ATO myTax or a registered tax agent for your actual assessment.
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.
Your employer withholds tax from each pay based on ATO tax tables (PAYG withholding). At tax time, the ATO calculates your actual tax liability based on your total taxable income, deductions and offsets.
If your employer withheld more tax than you owe, you get a refund. If they withheld less — for example, because of a second job, investment income or fewer deductions than expected — you may have an amount owing.
Most refunds are processed within 2 weeks of lodging online via myTax. Paper returns and complex cases take longer. Refunds go to your nominated bank account.
Common reasons include a second job (tax withheld assumes one income), investment income, incorrect tax file number declaration or over-claiming the tax-free threshold.
The average refund is around $2,500–$3,000, but this varies widely depending on income, deductions and circumstances.
Not on top of what you already claim. Section 25-130 of the ITAA 1997, inserted by Schedule 4 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, gives you the lesser of $1,000 and your labour income, reduced by the work expenses you claim and floored at zero. So on $80,000 of wages with $400 of work expenses you deduct $1,000 all up. Claim more than $1,000 and it adds nothing. Claim nothing and you still deduct $1,000.
No. Section 25-130(3) disregards income protection, personal sickness and accident insurance premiums and membership of a trade, business or professional association, so they stack on top. On $80,000 of wages, $600 of union fees and nothing else means you deduct $1,600 — the fees plus the full standard deduction. Enter them in the separate field so the estimate treats them correctly.
Only from 2027-28. Schedule 3 of the same Act applies to assessments for the 2027-28 income year and later, a full year after the standard deduction starts, so it does not touch a 2026-27 return. When it does apply, the offset is the lesser of $250 and the tax that would fall on your net labour income alone, and it is non-refundable.
Rates checked against the ATO, verified 8 September 2026
Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.
Rates and thresholds last updated for the 2026–27 financial year.
This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.
What can move this result
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.