Find out whether you are getting a refund this year, and roughly how much. Enter the two numbers from your income statement, add your deductions, and see the answer straight away. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Deductions do not come back dollar for dollar. They come back at your marginal rate.
| Deductions claimed | Refund | Extra back |
|---|
A refund is not a bonus from the government. It is your own money coming back, because your employer withheld more during the year than you turned out to owe. The bigger your deductions, the bigger the gap.
Salary, interest, dividends plus franking credits, and any other income for the year.
What is left is your taxable income. This is the figure your tax is calculated on.
Apply the rates, subtract offsets like LITO, then add the Medicare levy and any study loan repayment.
Withheld more than you owe, you get a refund. Less, and you have a bill to pay.
Both are on your income statement, which your employer files directly with the ATO through Single Touch Payroll. You can see it in myGov under ATO online services, or on the last payslip of the financial year. Employers must finalise it by 14 July, so if it is marked "not tax ready" the figures can still change.
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding. A deduction reduces your taxable income, not your tax bill. It comes back at your marginal rate. On a $95,000 salary that rate is 32% including the Medicare levy, so a $1,000 deduction is worth about $320 in your pocket, not $1,000. The table above shows this for your own figures.
The usual causes are a second job where the tax-free threshold was claimed twice, income with no tax withheld such as bank interest or a side business, a HELP debt that crossed the repayment threshold, or a year with 53 pays. Untaxed income is the most common. If you are consistently short, you can ask your employer to withhold extra each pay.
When an Australian company pays you a dividend it has usually already paid 30% company tax on that profit. The franking credit represents that tax. You declare the dividend plus the credit as income, then the credit counts as tax already paid on your behalf. Unlike most offsets it is refundable, so if your own rate is below 30% the difference comes back to you in cash.
If you lodge your own return the deadline is 31 October. Through a registered tax agent you can usually have until 15 May the following year, provided you are on their books before 31 October. Most electronically lodged returns are processed within about two weeks.
Estimate only. This Tax Return Calculator covers the most common situation: an
individual with salary or wage income, deductions, and possibly dividends. It does not include the
Medicare levy surcharge, the private health insurance rebate, SAPTO, capital gains, foreign income,
business or partnership income, investment property schedules, or spouse and dependant adjustments.
Your actual assessment comes from the ATO once you lodge. It is general information, not tax advice.
For advice on your circumstances, speak to a registered tax agent.
Rates last verified: 9 September 2026.
