How to read the tables
Australian income tax is marginal: each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its band, never to your whole income. A resident on $100,000 in 2026–27 pays nothing on the first $18,200, 15% on the next $26,800, and 30% on the remainder — an average rate of about 20%, even though they "sit in" the 30% bracket. The third column does this arithmetic for you: find your bracket, apply the formula to your taxable income, and that's your gross tax before offsets.
What the tables leave out is why two people in the same bracket take home different pay: the 2% Medicare levy (with reductions for low earners), the low income tax offset, HECS repayments, the Medicare levy surcharge for higher earners without hospital cover, and super. Residency matters more than any bracket — non-residents pay 30% from the first dollar with no tax-free threshold, while working holiday makers get a flat 15% up to $45,000 through registered employers.
Which year do you need? The rates you're being paid under right now are 2026–27. The return most people lodge between July and October 2026 is assessed under 2025–26 rates — the year selector covers both, plus the two years before for amendments and comparisons. The recent story in one line: the stage-3 redesign reshaped the scale in 2024–25, and legislated cost-of-living cuts trimmed the second bracket to 15% in 2026–27, with 14% arriving in 2027–28.
These tables render directly from the verified rate data that powers every PayExpert calculator — when the ATO publishes new rates, both update together. General information only — not tax advice.