HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator 2026–27

HECS repayment table 2026–27 vs 2025–26

Compulsory HELP repayments are now marginal. In 2026–27 you pay 15% of repayment income above $69,528, then $9,028 plus 17% above $129,717. From the top threshold you pay a flat 10% of all repayment income. The ATO's example shows the size of the change: on $80,000 in 2025–26, the old system would have taken $2,800 (3.5% of total income), while the marginal system takes $1,950.

How to use the HECS debt repayment calculator with your payslip

Your employer withholds an estimate of the repayment each pay if you told it about your study loan on your TFN declaration. On $95,000 paid fortnightly, the 2026–27 Schedule 8 tables add about $146 a fortnight, or $3,796 a year. The actual compulsory repayment is $3,821. The ATO works out the real amount on your notice of assessment after you lodge through myTax or a tax agent, and any over-withholding comes back as part of your refund.

To check your own figure, enter your taxable income and any reportable super, reportable fringe benefits and net investment losses from your income statement. The calculator adds them up as repayment income, just as the ATO does.

Indexation and the 20% HELP debt cut

Indexation is added to HELP debts on 1 June each year, but only to amounts more than 11 months old. According to Study Assist, the rate is now the lower of the Consumer Price Index and the Wage Price Index. It was 3.2% on 1 June 2025 and 2.8% on 1 June 2026. On a $30,000 balance, 2.8% adds $840.

The ATO has finished applying the one-off 20% reduction to all student and training support debts that existed on 1 June 2025. If your account went into credit after the cut, the ATO refunds the credit, provided you have no other tax or Commonwealth debts. Check the result in the ATO app or ATO online services through myGov.

Repayments still have to outpace indexation for your balance to shrink. At $95,000 with no pay rises, a $35,000 debt would take about 11 years to clear at 2.8% indexation. A $60,000 debt would take about 21 years.

Voluntary HECS repayments: when they make sense

You can make voluntary repayments to the ATO at any time. They are not refundable and not tax-deductible, and they do not replace the compulsory repayment for a year when your income is over the threshold. They only make your debt smaller sooner.

• Paying before 1 June saves that year’s indexation on the amount repaid. Allow up to 4 business days for an electronic or Australia Post payment to reach your account.
• If you plan to clear the whole balance, pay before you lodge your tax return. Otherwise a compulsory repayment may still be raised on your assessment.
• Compare the 2.8% indexation rate with the interest on your mortgage or other loans before deciding where spare cash goes. Money repaid cannot be drawn back.
• If an employer makes voluntary repayments for you, it may be able to claim a deduction but may have to pay fringe benefits tax.

Moving overseas with a HELP debt

HELP debts do not disappear when you leave Australia. If you plan to live overseas for 183 days or more in any 12 months, the ATO requires an overseas travel notification within 7 days of leaving. After that you must report your worldwide income for each income year by 31 October, or lodge a non-lodgment advice.

A non-lodgment advice is enough if your worldwide income is no more than 25% of the minimum repayment threshold ($16,750 for 2025–26). Above that you must report your worldwide income, converted to Australian dollars at the average exchange rate for the income year. If it exceeds the minimum repayment threshold you owe a compulsory repayment or an overseas levy. For the foreign part, the ATO lets you choose the simple self-assessment method (gross income less a standard deduction for your occupation), the overseas assessed method (your foreign tax assessment) or the comprehensive tax-based assessment method.