Bonus Tax Calculator
See how much tax your employer withholds from a bonus or commission using the ATO method, what you’ll receive in that pay, and what the bonus really adds to your tax for the year.
Your bonus after tax
Bonus after tax withheld
$3,440.00
$1,560.00 withheld from a $5,000.00 bonus (31.2%)
- Normal pay this period
- $3,000.00
- Tax withheld from normal pay
- −$598.00
- Bonus
- $5,000.00
- Tax withheld from bonus
- −$1,560.00
- Net pay this period
- $5,842.00
At tax time
- Extra tax for the year because of the bonus
- $1,600.00
- Withheld from the bonus
- $1,560.00
- Likely to owe at tax time
- $40.00
- You keep after tax for the year
- $3,400.00
Your marginal tax rate stays at 30%. Assumes your normal pay continues for the whole year and you have no other income.
Rates checked 12 October 2026 against the ATO · How we calculate · Calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Withholding method for bonuses
When a bonus or commission covers work over more than one pay period, employers work out the tax using Schedule 5 of the ATO tax tables. This calculator uses Method A:
- Find the tax on your normal pay for the period, ignoring cents.
- Divide the bonus by the number of pay periods in the year (52, 26 or 12), ignoring cents. For $5,000 paid fortnightly, that is $192.
- Add that to your normal pay and find the tax on the total.
- The difference between the two, times the number of pay periods, is the tax on the bonus.
- It can’t be more than 47% of the bonus. If you have a HECS-HELP debt, the study loan amount is worked out the same way and counts towards the 47% limit.
The ATO’s own example: Jarrod earns $1,400.00 a week, has a HELP debt and gets a $900.00 bonus. $260.00 of tax and $104.00 for HELP is withheld from the bonus, and $641.00 from that week’s pay in total. The calculator gives the same figures.
A bonus for work in a single pay period is different: it is added to that period’s pay and taxed with the normal tax table, as in the tax withheld calculator.
Sources: Schedule 5 – Tax table for back payments, commissions, bonuses and similar payments: working out the withholding amount, ATO, published 17 June 2026; Schedule 5: withholding amounts examples, ATO, published 17 June 2026.
Withheld vs the tax you really pay
Withholding is an estimate. Your actual tax is worked out on your income for the whole year when you lodge your return. On the default example, your marginal rate is 30%, so the $5,000 bonus adds $1,600.00 to your tax and Medicare levy for the year, and you keep $3,400.00 of it.
Frequently asked questions
Are bonuses taxed at a higher rate?
No. A bonus is ordinary income, taxed at your marginal rate like the rest of your pay. What differs is how tax is withheld: if the bonus were simply added to one pay, the tax table would treat that pay as if you earned it every period, and withhold far too much. The ATO method spreads the bonus across the year instead, so withholding is closer to the real tax.
How much tax will I pay on a $5,000 bonus?
On $3,000.00 a fortnight ($78,000 a year), about $1,560.00 is withheld from a $5,000 bonus, leaving $3,440.00. For the year, the bonus adds $1,600.00 in tax and Medicare levy, so you might owe about $40.00 at tax time.
Can a bonus push me into a higher tax bracket?
It can push some of your income into a higher bracket, but only the part above the bracket threshold is taxed at the higher rate. The rest of your income is taxed as before. The calculator shows whether your marginal rate changes.