Pay and tax guides

Tax brackets, the tax-free threshold, offsets and the Medicare levy, with the tax on common salaries worked out.

How your refund is worked out, why some people get money back and others owe, and when it arrives.

Everything to gather before you lodge: income, deductions and their records, and the details the ATO asks for.

The new $1,000 deduction for work expenses from 2026–27: who gets it, what reduces it, and when claiming more is worth it.

Claiming working from home and work car trips: the rates, the records you need, and how they fit with the standard deduction.

Why so much tax comes out of a bonus, what you really pay on it for the year, and how much comes back.

Why some years have 27 fortnightly paydays, how to tell if yours does, and what it means for your pay and tax.

What every line on your payslip means, what the law says it must show, and how to check it is right.

Why weekend, night and overtime pay seems to lose more to tax, what you really pay, and which of it earns super.

How tax, super, GST and leave differ between employees and contractors, and the day rate it takes to match a salary.

How salary sacrificing into super works, what it saves at different incomes, and the caps and catches to know.

How a novated lease works, why electric cars are FBT-free, and what a lease really costs in take-home pay.

Every way money gets into super: employer, salary sacrifice, personal and after-tax contributions, the caps and government extras.

How compulsory HECS-HELP repayments are worked out, how indexation works, and when paying extra makes sense.