The AU Tax Calc Blog
Australia's most-asked tax, property and money questions — answered in plain English, with the calculators to match.
Tax
22Brackets, deductions, and getting more back.📈 The 50% CGT Discount Explained
Hold an asset more than 12 months and only half the gain is taxed. How the 50% CGT discount works, with a worked example — crypto included.
🎓 How HECS-HELP Repayments Work
How HECS-HELP repayments work in FY2025-26: the $54,435 threshold, 1%-10% repayment rates, and the June 1 indexation date that grows your balance.
💻 How to Claim a Laptop on Tax
How to claim a laptop on tax — instant claim under $300, depreciation over it, the work percentage rules, and how it fits with the 70c WFH rate.
🔧 Contractor vs Employee: The Tax Differences
How contractor and employee tax differ in Australia — same brackets, different obligations, the PSI rules, and how much higher a day rate needs to be.
⏰ Missed the Tax Return Deadline? What Happens Next
Missed the 31 October tax return deadline? How the ATO's late fines work, when they're waived, and how a tax agent buys you until May.
📦 Salary Packaging Explained
How salary packaging works in Australia — novated leases, FBT-exempt work devices, and the living-expense caps for hospital and not-for-profit workers.
🧾 Tax Deductions You Can Claim Without Receipts
The ATO's $300 no-receipt rule, the $150 laundry limit, award transport payments, and what records still count as proof.
💰 Tax on a $100,000 Salary in Australia (2025-26)
On a $100,000 salary in 2025-26 you pay $22,788 in tax and Medicare levy and keep $77,212 — the full breakdown, plus what a raise to $110k nets.
🧰 Work Expenses You Can Claim on Tax
The work expenses you can genuinely claim by job type, the three golden rules, and the famous claims the ATO rejects every year.
🚗 Logbook vs Cents per KM: Which Pays More?
How the ATO's two car claim methods work — 88 cents per km with a 5,000 km cap versus the 12-week logbook — and which pays more.
🏠 WFH Deductions: Fixed Rate vs Actual Cost
The ATO's 70 cents per hour fixed rate vs the actual cost method for WFH deductions — the records each needs and which one pays more.
💸 PAYG Withholding Explained
How PAYG withholding works: your employer estimates your tax each payday using ATO tables, and your tax return squares it up in July.
💼 How Side Hustle and ABN Income Is Taxed
How ABN and gig income is taxed in Australia — no tax is withheld, the tax-free threshold applies once, and GST kicks in at $75,000.
🏥 The Medicare Levy Explained
The Medicare levy is a flat 2% of your taxable income — who pays it, who gets a reduction, and how it differs from the Medicare levy surcharge.
🍟 Tax for Casual Workers in Australia
How casual work is taxed in Australia — the loading, the tax-free threshold form, and the second-job withholding trap.
🪃 How Tax Refunds Work in Australia
A tax refund is your own overpaid tax coming back — how refunds are calculated, why big ones aren't wins, and when the money lands.
📉 How to Reduce Your Taxable Income Legally
Five legal ways Australians cut taxable income: super contributions, real deductions, 30 June timing, salary packaging, and income splitting done right.
🌐 Can You Claim Internet on Tax?
Whether you can claim internet on tax — the 70c WFH rate already includes it, when the actual cost method wins, and how to split shared bills.
📱 How to Claim Your Phone on Tax
How to claim the work share of your phone plan and handset on tax, plus the four-week diary that proves your percentage.
🏥 How to Avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge
Earn over $101,000 without private hospital cover and the Medicare Levy Surcharge takes up to 1.5% of everything — the FY2025-26 thresholds and maths.
🧮 How Much Tax Do I Pay in Australia? (2025-26)
The 2025-26 Australian tax brackets explained simply, with a full $80,000 worked example including the Medicare levy and take-home pay.
🎉 How Bonuses Are Taxed in Australia
There's no special bonus tax in Australia — why withholding on a bonus looks brutal on the payslip, and how it evens out at tax time.
Property
13Buying, holding, selling — and the tax in between.📋 Conveyancing Fees in Australia Explained
Conveyancing fees in Australia — what conveyancers actually do, professional fees vs disbursements, and when to use a conveyancer versus a solicitor.
🏷️ Stamp Duty Compared: QLD vs NSW vs VIC
Stamp duty on a $950,000 home in Queensland, NSW and Victoria — why QLD charges $28,600, NSW $37,162 and Victoria $52,070 for the same house.
🧾 Stamp Duty Explained
Stamp duty (transfer duty) explained — what it is, when you pay, why every state charges differently, and how first home buyer concessions shrink the bill.
🏦 Offset Account vs Redraw: What's the Difference?
Offset accounts and redraw facilities both cut loan interest — but if your home ever becomes a rental, the tax difference can cost you thousands, permanently.
🌴 Hidden Costs of Buying Property in Queensland
The hidden costs of buying property in Queensland — transfer duty and the home concession, titles registration fees, body corporate searches and pool safety certificates.
🔑 How Rental Income Is Taxed
How rental income is taxed in Australia — rent added to your taxable income, the expenses you can deduct, how depreciation works, and which records to keep.
🏡 First Home Buyer Stamp Duty by State
First home buyer stamp duty concessions in every state and territory for FY2025-26 — exemption cut-offs, phase-out cliffs and cap conditions.
💸 Stamp Duty on a $950,000 House in Every State
Stamp duty on a $950,000 established home in all 8 states and territories in FY2025-26 — from $28,600 in QLD to $52,070 in VIC.
🔍 Building and Pest Inspection Costs Explained
What building and pest inspections cost in Australia, what they catch, and why skipping one to save a few hundred dollars is the worst trade in property.
🏠 How Negative Gearing Works
How negative gearing works — why a rental loss shrinks your taxable income, with a worked example at FY2025-26 tax rates.
🏢 Stamp Duty on Investment Property
Stamp duty for property investors — full general rates in every state, no concessions, Queensland's home-rate catch, foreign surcharges and the CGT cost base offset.
🚪 The True Cost of Buying a House in Australia
The real cost of buying a house in Australia — stamp duty, LMI, conveyancing, inspections and settlement adjustments, with a worked sticker-vs-door example.
💰 CGT When Selling an Investment Property
CGT on selling an investment property — building your cost base, the 50% discount after 12 months, the main residence exemption and the 6-year rule.
First Home
5Grants, concessions, and the FHSS boost.🧾 QLD First Home Buyer Stamp Duty Concessions
Queensland first home buyers pay no stamp duty on established homes under $710,000 and none at all on new builds — the thresholds, taper, and live-in rules.
💰 Queensland First Home Owner Grant Explained
Queensland's First Home Owner Grant is $30,000 for new homes under $750,000 — the eligibility rules, how it's paid, and what it stacks with.
💞 How Couples Can Use the FHSS Together
FHSS caps are per person, not per home — how couples double the scheme to $100,000 plus earnings, and what to do if only one of you qualifies.
🎛️ First Home Buyer Grants and Schemes in Australia
Grants, stamp duty concessions, the 5% deposit guarantee, FHSS, and shared equity — what each is worth and which schemes combine.
⏰ FHSS Timing: Request Your Release Before You Sign
The FHSS release steps in the right order, the 90-day grace period after signing, and the settlement deadline that cannot be fixed.
Investing
10Shares, ETFs, crypto, and rental returns.📊 How ETFs Are Taxed in Australia
How ETF distributions, the AMMA statement, and the capital gains inside your fund hit your tax return every year — even when you never sell.
🪙 Crypto Tax in Australia Explained
How crypto CGT works: every sale, swap, spend or gift is a taxable event, the ATO data-matches exchange records, and records are everything.
🧾 The Cost of Holding an Investment Property
What an investment property costs to hold each year — interest, rates, insurance, maintenance, management and land tax, with a worked budget on a $650k rental.
🏛️ Is Stamp Duty Tax Deductible?
Stamp duty isn't a yearly deduction — it joins your property's cost base and cuts CGT when you sell, except in the ACT where a lease quirk makes it deductible.
✅ Investment Property Tax Deductions Checklist
Every major investment property tax deduction in one checklist — interest, rates, insurance, repairs vs improvements, depreciation, and what you can't claim.
📊 Rental Yield Explained
Gross vs net rental yield explained with a worked $650k example, plus the yield vs growth trade-off.
🏗️ Property Depreciation Schedules Explained
Property depreciation schedules — capital works vs plant and equipment, the post-2017 second-hand rule, and why a quantity surveyor report usually pays for itself.
💸 Investment Property Cash Flow Explained
How investment property cash flow works — rent in vs costs out, pre-tax vs after-tax, and negative gearing's role.
🎟️ Franking Credits Explained
How franking credits work: the company's 30% tax comes attached to your dividend as a credit, and the ATO refunds any excess.
🗂️ Property Management Fees in Australia
Property management fees in Australia — typical percentages, letting fees, common extras, self-managing, and tax deductibility.
Super
8Make the 15% tax rate work for you.🔧 Salary Sacrifice vs Personal Super Contributions
Salary sacrifice and personal deductible contributions both tax your super top-up at 15% and share the $30,000 cap — the real differences are cash flow, flexibility, and one critical form.
🌅 Transition to Retirement (TTR) Explained
From 60 you can open a TTR pension to drop to part-time on the same income, or keep working and boost super via salary sacrifice — here's how, plus the catch.
🏡 The First Home Super Saver Scheme Explained
How the FHSS scheme builds a first home deposit inside super — the $15,000 yearly and $50,000 total limits, the tax maths, and the traps.
📍 How Much Super Should You Have at Your Age?
ASFA's comfortable-retirement super checkpoints by age, why average balances mislead, and the small early fixes that compound for decades.
🚪 How Super Is Taxed
Super is taxed 15% going in, 15% while it grows, and 0% on withdrawals after 60 — here's the full FY2025-26 picture, including caps and Division 293.
🎯 Is Salary Sacrificing Into Super Worth It?
How salary sacrifice swaps your marginal tax rate for super's flat 15%, with a $95k worked example, the $1,700 yearly saving, the cap, and the catch.
⚖️ Concessional vs Non-Concessional Contributions
The two types of super contributions, the $30,000 and $120,000 caps for FY2025-26, carry-forward catch-ups, and the Division 293 tax at $250k.
🎉 Tax on Super Withdrawals
After 60, withdrawals from a taxed super fund are tax-free — lump sum or pension. Here's what applies before 60, and how the two super components work.
Money
8Loans, deposits, and where your pay actually goes.🏡 How Mortgage Repayments Are Calculated
Borrow $600k at 6% over 30 years and you repay around $1.3 million — how repayments split between interest and principal, and the fortnightly trick.
🏦 Fixed vs Variable Home Loans Compared
Fixed vs variable home loans compared: what each trades away, how break costs work, and when a split loan gives you the best of both.
🔨 Extra Mortgage Repayments: How Much You Save
How an extra $200 a month on a $600,000 mortgage saves around $100,000 in interest and years of repayments — and when an offset beats extra repayments.
💸 Take-Home Pay: Where Your Salary Actually Goes
Where your salary goes between gross and net: income tax, the 2% Medicare levy, HECS repayments — and why super isn't taken from your pay.
🏠 How Much House Deposit Do You Need?
A 20% house deposit is the ideal, not the minimum. What LMI costs below it, how guarantor loans work, and the 5% First Home Guarantee.
🔍 Borrowing Power Explained
What actually sets your borrowing capacity — income, debts, the HEM expenses benchmark, and the ~3% stress-test buffer banks add to every application.
🎭 Interest-Only vs Principal and Interest Loans
Interest-only loans buy a smaller repayment now at the cost of owning nothing more later — why investors use IO, and the payment jump when it ends.
⚖️ How Offset Accounts Save You Interest
Every dollar in an offset account cancels a dollar of loan you're charged interest on — why it beats a savings account, with a $50,000 worked example.