How this calculator works
A HELP repayment calculator estimates the compulsory amount you repay in a financial year once your repayment income is above the official threshold. The same rules apply to HELP, and they also cover other study and training loans the ATO collects, including VSL, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL, TSL and Financial Supplement debts.
From 2025-26, repayments use a marginal method. You pay nothing until your repayment income is above the minimum threshold. Above that, you pay a rate only on the income over the threshold, until you reach the top band, where the repayment is 10% of your total repayment income. That is different from the older system, which applied a rate to your entire repayment income once you crossed a threshold.
The Never Lose Interest calculator uses the ATO's published thresholds for 2025-26 and 2026-27. This explainer shows what sits behind the result, how repayment income is defined, and why your payslip withholding can differ from the amount on your notice of assessment. It links to the pay calculator for the payday view, and to salary sacrifice into super because reportable super contributions are added back into repayment income.
This is general information only. It is not personal advice, and it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Your actual repayment is worked out by the ATO when you lodge your tax return.
How does a HELP repayment calculator work?
You enter your repayment income, or a salary that the calculator treats as repayment income, and the year you want to test. The calculator then applies the official rates for that year, and it should not repay more than the loan balance you enter, if you provide one.
The important input is repayment income, not taxable income on its own. The ATO starts with your taxable income, excluding any assessable First Home Super Saver released amounts, and then adds:
- reportable fringe benefits
- total net investment losses
- reportable super contributions
- exempt foreign employment income
A salary-sacrificed super contribution is a reportable super contribution. If you sacrifice $10,000 into super, your taxable income may fall by $10,000, but that $10,000 is added back when the ATO works out your repayment income. In a simple case, the compulsory HELP repayment does not fall. A calculator that only reduces taxable income, and ignores reportable super, will understate the repayment.
Net investment losses are also added back. A negatively geared property that reduces your taxable income does not, on its own, reduce your HELP repayment income by the same amount. See the negative gearing calculator explainer for how rental losses are treated for income tax, which is a separate question from HELP.
The compulsory repayment is not a tax. It reduces your loan balance. It does, however, reduce the cash you take home.
What are the 2025-26 and 2026-27 repayment rates?
These are the ATO's published rates, also used in the Never Lose Interest pay calculator.
2025-26
| Repayment income | Repayment |
|---|---|
| $0 to $67,000 | Nil |
| $67,001 to $125,000 | 15c for each $1 over $67,000 |
| $125,001 to $179,285 | $8,700 plus 17c for each $1 over $125,000 |
| $179,286 and over | 10% of your total repayment income |
2026-27
| Repayment income | Repayment |
|---|---|
| $0 to $69,528 | Nil |
| $69,529 to $129,717 | 15c for each $1 over $69,528 |
| $129,718 to $186,050 | $9,028 plus 17c for each $1 over $129,717 |
| $186,051 and over | 10% of your total repayment income |
If repayment income is $80,000 in 2026-27, the compulsory repayment is 15% of $80,000 minus $69,528, which is 15% of $10,472, or $1,570.80.
If repayment income is $140,000 in 2026-27, the repayment is $9,028 plus 17% of $140,000 minus $129,717, which is $9,028 plus 17% of $10,283, or $9,028 plus $1,748.11, totalling $10,776.11.
If repayment income is $200,000 in 2026-27, you are in the top band, and the repayment is 10% of the total $200,000, or $20,000. The top band is not marginal. It applies the 10% rate to all of your repayment income, not only the amount above $186,051.
The calculator should also cap the result at your remaining loan balance. You cannot be asked to repay more than you owe.
How is this different from what my employer withholds?
Your employer withholds extra once your pay is high enough, using the ATO's withholding schedules and the information on your tax file number declaration. Withholding is an estimate based on the income your employer can see.
The compulsory repayment is assessed by the ATO after you lodge. It uses your actual repayment income for the whole year, including amounts your employer may not know about, such as a second job, a net investment loss, or reportable super. If your employer withheld too little, you may have a bill. If it withheld too much, the extra usually reduces the tax payable or is refunded after lodgment, subject to your other tax assessment items.
If you have more than one payer, each one may withhold as if that job were your only income, or may not withhold for HELP at all if you have not told them about the debt. The year-end assessment is still based on your combined repayment income.
You can apply to the ATO to vary withholding in some cases, or make a voluntary repayment during the year if you want to reduce the balance sooner.
Do voluntary repayments reduce indexation?
HELP debts are indexed by the ATO. Indexation is applied to the balance that remains, using the official factor for that year. A voluntary repayment that is processed before indexation is applied can reduce the amount that is indexed. The timing rules are set by the ATO, and they can differ depending on how you pay.
A calculator that shows "interest" on a HELP debt is usually simplifying. The debt does not accrue commercial interest in the ordinary sense. Indexation adjusts the balance, and the official rate changes from year to year. Use the ATO's published indexation information if you need the current factor, rather than an assumed interest rate.
Voluntary repayments are separate from the compulsory amount. Paying extra does not stop the compulsory repayment for that year if your repayment income is still above the threshold, unless the extra payment has already cleared the debt.
What else can change the result?
- The repayment cannot exceed the balance owing, including any indexation already applied.
- Overseas obligations can apply if you live abroad and have a HELP debt. The ATO has separate reporting and repayment rules for that situation.
- A low or nil repayment in one year does not wipe the debt. The balance remains and can be indexed, and repayments start again if your repayment income later rises above the threshold.
- Some people are eligible for relief or pause arrangements in limited official circumstances, such as certain types of financial hardship. Those are not built into a standard calculator.
- From 1 July 2027, the Working Australians Tax Offset and other income tax settings can change taxable income, and therefore repayment income, even if the HELP rate table itself is unchanged. Check the year you are modelling.
Frequently asked questions
Is HECS the same as HELP?
HECS is the older name people still search for. The loan most current students and graduates have is a HELP debt, and the ATO collects it under the study and training loan rules. A HECS-HELP repayment calculator is using those same official rates.
Why did my repayment jump after a pay rise?
Under the marginal method, a pay rise that keeps you in the 15% or 17% band only increases the repayment on the extra income above the threshold. If the rise pushes you into the top band, the repayment becomes 10% of your total repayment income, which is a much larger step. That is how the published table is written, not a rounding error in the calculator.
Will salary sacrifice into super reduce my HELP repayment?
Usually not by the sacrificed amount. Reportable super contributions are added back when the ATO works out repayment income. Confirm the details of your arrangement, but do not assume a pre-tax super contribution will cut the compulsory repayment dollar for dollar.
Can I claim a deduction for my HELP repayment?
No. A compulsory or voluntary HELP repayment is not a tax deduction. It reduces the loan balance.
What if I have more than one study loan?
The ATO applies a single compulsory repayment, based on your repayment income, toward your accumulated study and training loan balances under the official order of allocation. You do not add a separate repayment for each loan type on top of the table above.
General information warning
This article, and the Never Lose Interest HELP repayment calculator, are general information only. They are not personal advice or a calculation of your notice of assessment. They do not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. The ATO works out your compulsory repayment when you lodge. If you need help with a specific debt, use the ATO's official loan account or speak with a registered tax agent.
Sources
- Australian Taxation Office, Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates, last updated 30 June 2026.
- Australian Taxation Office, Study and training loan repayment income.
- Australian Taxation Office materials on compulsory and voluntary repayments, and on employer withholding for study and training loans.
Last reviewed: November 2026.