NodeSaver

§ 01 — All of it

Your complete salary & tax picture.

Enter your salary once. See all four calculations together: your real take-home after tax, when your HECS debt disappears, how much salary sacrifice saves you, and what your super will be worth at retirement.

Updated · 1 Jul 2025·Source: ATO·Four tools · one salary input

Shared across all tabs

A$
Show as
11.5%

Statutory minimum for 2025–26 is 11.5%.

Take-home per year

$72,862

≈ $37/hour · 38h week

Gross
$95,000
Income tax
$19,288
Medicare 2%
$1,900
HECS / HELP
$0

2025–26 resident brackets, 2% Medicare levy, HECS thresholds as published by the ATO. Not financial advice.

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Four tools, one salary

Most Australian salary calculators stop at take-home pay. But your gross income affects four separate financial outcomes that interact — and making one decision without seeing the others can cost you thousands.

  1. § 01 — Take-Home Pay. Your gross minus income tax (resident brackets), the 2% Medicare levy, any HECS repayment, and your super contribution. The "real" number that lands in your bank account.
  2. § 02 — HECS Payoff. Your employer withholds a HECS slice every payslip — but CPI indexation adds to the balance each June. This tab shows when you'll be debt-free and what voluntary repayments actually save you in avoided indexation.
  3. § 03 — Salary Sacrifice. Pre-tax dollars into super are taxed at 15% instead of your marginal rate. If you're in the 30% or 37% bracket, every dollar sacrificed costs you significantly less than a dollar of take-home.
  4. § 04 — Super Projection. Compound growth over 30 years dwarfs the contributions themselves. This tab shows your super at 60, 65, and 67 — and how much extra contributions change the trajectory.

§ Letters & replies

Salary hub questions, answered.

How these four tools connect — and what decisions they help you make.

Should I pay off HECS or salary sacrifice?+ open

This is a common tension. HECS indexation (3–7% in recent years) is a guaranteed cost; super returns (historically 7–9% p.a.) are not guaranteed. If you're in a high HECS indexation year and a low tax bracket, paying HECS first can win. In most scenarios with a high marginal rate, salary sacrifice edges ahead — but both tabs exist so you can compare them against your actual numbers.

Does salary sacrifice reduce my HECS repayment?+ open

Yes — HECS repayment is calculated on repayment income, which salary sacrifice reduces. So sacrificing $5,000 can both save tax and drop you into a lower HECS repayment bracket. The HECS tab uses your gross salary; try increasing the salary sacrifice amount and re-checking HECS.

Why do these numbers differ from my payslip?+ open

These are annual averages using the ATO's published brackets — not payroll software. Real payslips vary with: fortnightly rounding, bonus PAYG treatment (flat 32%), private health cover (removes MLS), offset eligibility, and employer-specific allowances. Think of this as your steady-state planning number, not your next payslip.

Is the 7% super return assumption realistic?+ open

Australian balanced super funds have averaged 8–9% p.a. over 30 years. 7% is deliberately conservative and nominal (before inflation). Real-terms purchasing power at 7% nominal with 2.5% CPI is roughly 4.4% per year. The projection shows nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted amounts.

Next: the bigger picture

§ 02 — Loan

Mortgage repayments

What your take-home covers in monthly mortgage — at the current variable rate.

§ 03 — Property

Stamp duty by state

The upfront cost most calculators forget, across all 8 states & territories.

§ 04 — Property

Negative gearing

Annual tax saving and weekly holding cost on an investment property.