HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator 2026-27 (Marginal)

Quick answer

This calculator estimates the compulsory annual HECS-HELP repayment the ATO assesses for FY2026-27. Since 1 July 2025 repayments are marginal: only the repayment income above the minimum threshold is charged. For FY2026-27 nothing is payable up to $69,528, then 15c in the dollar applies above that, rising to 17c, with a flat 10% of total income once you reach $186,051.

Item	Value (FY2026-27)
Minimum repayment threshold	$69,528 (nil at or below)
$69,529 – $129,717	15c for each $1 over $69,528
$129,718 – $186,050	$9,028 plus 17c for each $1 over $129,717
$186,051 and over	10% of your total repayment income
Indexation	1 June each year, lower of CPI and WPI (2.8% in 2026)

What your HECS-HELP repayment and 1 June indexation will be

This calculator estimates the compulsory annual repayment the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) charges against a Higher Education Loan Program (HECS-HELP) debt, plus how the loan balance moves after the next 1 June indexation. It covers HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP, VET Student Loans, SA-HELP, SFSS, Student Start-up Loans and the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loan, which all share one schedule.

The figure returned is the compulsory repayment reconciled on your tax return — not your income tax bill, not your Medicare levy, and not your Medicare Levy Surcharge. Your employer withholds an estimate of it from each pay based on the HECS scale you ticked on your TFN declaration, and the difference is squared up when you lodge.

The marginal system replaced the cliff on 1 July 2025

This is the part most calculators still get wrong, so it is worth being precise about.

Until FY2024-25, compulsory repayments worked on a whole-income basis. Once your repayment income crossed a threshold, a single percentage applied to your entire income — so a one-dollar pay rise across a boundary could cost hundreds of dollars. That system produced marginal effective tax rates well above 100% at each step.

From 1 July 2025 that was replaced by a marginal system, and this is current law rather than a Budget proposal. Only the income above the minimum threshold is charged. The ATO's own illustration: Grace earns $80,000 of repayment income in FY2025-26. Under the old rules she would have paid $2,800 (3.5% of the whole $80,000). Under the marginal system she pays 15% of the $13,000 above the $67,000 threshold, which is $1,950.

The FY2026-27 schedule is:

Repayment income	Repayment on this income
$0 – $69,528	Nil
$69,529 – $129,717	15c for each $1 over $69,528
$129,718 – $186,050	$9,028 plus 17c for each $1 over $129,717
$186,051 and over	10% of your total repayment income

The FY2025-26 schedule has the same shape with a $67,000 threshold, a $125,000 first-band ceiling, an $8,700 base and a $179,286 top-band entry. Both are held separately in this calculator, because the thresholds are indexed each year in line with average weekly earnings and using last year's table is the easiest way to get a wrong answer.

Note the top band: at $186,051 and above, the flat 10% applies to your whole repayment income, not to a slice. That is the one place where a cliff still exists, and it is deliberately set where the marginal calculation and the flat calculation almost meet — at $186,050 the marginal method gives $18,604.61, and at $186,051 the flat method gives $18,605.10.

FY2024-25 is still selectable for anyone amending that year. It uses the old eighteen-band whole-income schedule running from $54,435 at 1.0% to $159,664 and above at 10.0%.

From taxable income to repayment income: the inputs

• Financial year — each year uses the ATO table published for that specific income year. Nothing here is indexed or projected by us; if the ATO has not published a year, we do not offer it.
• Taxable income — from your tax return: assessable income minus allowable deductions. Not your gross salary. Exclude any assessable First Home Super Saver amount released to you, which the ATO takes out of this component.
• HELP loan balance — the indexed balance shown in your myGov ATO account at the start of the income year.
• Reportable fringe benefits — the grossed-up amount on your income statement, counted regardless of whether your employer is FBT-exempt.
• Reportable super contributions — salary-sacrificed super and reportable employer super contributions, added back on top of taxable income.
• Net investment / rental loss — total net investment loss, including the loss from a negatively geared rental property.

HECS repayments worked across graduate, mid-career and top bands

1. Graduate on $58,000 with a $22,000 balance. Repayment income is below the $69,528 threshold, so the compulsory repayment is nil. Under the old whole-income schedule the same graduate would have paid 1.0% of $58,000. Many people in this range stopped having a compulsory repayment entirely when the system changed.

2. Mid-career professional on $95,000 with a $40,000 balance. Only the $25,472 above the threshold is charged, at 15c in the dollar: $3,820.80 per year. At the last published indexation rate of 2.8%, repayments outpace indexation immediately at this balance.

3. Senior on $165,000 with a $60,000 balance. This sits in the second band, so the repayment is $9,028 plus 17c for each dollar over $129,717: $9,028 + ($35,283 × 17%) = $15,026.11 per year.

4. Top band, $200,000 repayment income. Above $186,051 the flat rate applies to the whole amount: 10% × $200,000 = $20,000 per year. This is the one group the 2025 reform left unchanged — the ATO notes there is no change for people earning $179,286 or more in FY2025-26.

5. Salary-packaged hospital worker, $75,000 taxable income, $20,000 grossed-up fringe benefits. Taxable income alone would give a repayment of $820.80. Adding the reportable fringe benefits lifts repayment income to $95,000 and the repayment to $3,820.80. The packaging saves income tax but does not save HECS.

6. The first dollar over the threshold. At $69,529 the compulsory repayment is 15 cents. Under the old system, crossing a threshold could cost several hundred dollars. If you have been avoiding a pay rise or an extra shift because of a HECS cliff, that reason no longer exists.

HECS myths: why salary sacrifice and packaging don't cut repayment income

• Repayment income is broader than taxable income. Salary sacrificing into super, packaging a novated lease, or running a negatively geared rental does not reduce the HECS bill. The ATO adds these items back specifically so they cannot erode compulsory repayments.
• The cliff is gone below the top band. Advice written before July 2025 that tells you to keep your income under a threshold is out of date for everyone under $186,051.
• Indexation runs against the balance outstanding for more than 11 months. A voluntary repayment made on 31 May reduces the 1 June indexation base; one made on 2 June does not affect that year's indexation. Allow at least five business days for the payment to land.
• Indexation has come down. The rate applied on 1 June 2026 was 2.8%, after 3.2% in 2025 and 4% in 2024. The 2023 and 2024 rates were also retrospectively reduced by the 2024 reform, and the ATO issued credits.
• Next year's indexation rate is not knowable. It is the lower of CPI and WPI calculated from ABS data that has not been published. Any tool showing you a precise future indexation figure is guessing. The projection here carries the last published rate forward and says so.
• The 20% debt reduction is done. The ATO has completed processing the 20% reduction for all study and training support debts that existed on 1 June 2025. Check your loan account rather than assuming your old balance.
• PAYG withholding is an estimate, not the final bill. The actual compulsory repayment is reconciled when you lodge. Multiple jobs or significant non-PAYG income can leave you short.

When to talk to a professional

This calculator gives a general estimate based on public ATO material. For advice on the interaction between HECS-HELP and specific decisions — salary packaging through a not-for-profit, choosing between a voluntary repayment and a super contribution, optimising income across financial years, an overseas income obligation, or the impact on a home loan serviceability assessment — speak to a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Nothing on this page is personal tax, financial or legal advice.

Related reading

• HECS-HELP Repayment Thresholds Explained (FY2025-26)
• Stage 3 Tax Cuts: Who Actually Wins (FY2025-26)

Related calculators

• VIC stamp duty calculator — how much duty you would pay on a Melbourne property purchase, alongside your HECS commitments.
• NSW stamp duty calculator — the same exercise for a Sydney purchase, including First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme settings.
• Medicare Levy Surcharge calculator — another threshold-based liability assessed on a closely overlapping income measure.
• Working holiday tax calculator — if you carry a HECS-HELP debt and are on a 417 / 462 visa, study loan repayments still apply on Australian-sourced income.
• Division 293 super tax calculator — high-income earners often hit the top HELP rate and Division 293 in the same financial year.

Source: ATO — Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates · ATO — Study and training loans: what's new · ATO — Study and training loan indexation rates · ATO — Study and training support loans: Loan repayment · Study Assist — Loan increases and indexation.