OpenTaxCalculator

Tax Return & Refund Calculator 2025–26

For the return you lodge at tax time (1 July – 31 October). Enter the gross salary and tax withheld from your myGov income statement, other income and deductions; the calculator compares what was withheld with the tax the ATO will assess.

Updated 2026-10-03 · ATO and official government rates

Estimated refund$352Tax assessed $14,468 vs $14,820 withheld · 2025–26
Taxable income$74,000
Tax on taxable income$12,988
Low income tax offset−$0
Medicare levy$1,480
Total assessed$14,468
Tax withheld$14,820

Tax withheld is estimated from ATO fortnightly withholding with the tax-free threshold claimed. Replace it with the figure on your income statement in myGov.

Withheld
$14,820
Assessed
$14,468

Your result is ready

Related

When is the 2025–26 tax return due?

If you lodge your own return, the 2025–26 tax return is due by 31 October 2026. That date is a Saturday, and the ATO moves the deadline to the next business day when 31 October falls on a weekend, so this year's due date is Monday 2 November 2026. If you use a registered tax agent, you can usually lodge later under the agent's lodgment program, but you must engage the agent before 31 October.

If you lodge on time and owe tax, payment is due by 21 November 2026. If your assessment issues after 31 October, payment is due 21 days after it issues. Interest can apply to amounts still unpaid after 21 November 2026.

How long does a tax return take?

According to the ATO's processing timeframes, most online returns are finalised within two weeks:

How you lodgeATO processing aim
myTax (online)12 business days. Most refunds are issued within 2 weeks
Registered tax agent12 business days
Paper return50 business days (10 weeks). It may take up to 7 weeks to show in ATO systems
Online return selected for manual checksUp to 30 calendar days

Tax time step by step with myTax

myTax runs in ATO online services through myGov or the ATO app. Expect to spend most of the time checking pre-filled figures, not typing them in.

  • Link your myGov account to the ATO, if you have not already done so.
  • Wait for pre-fill. Data starts arriving on 1 July and most is finalised by the end of July. Lodging early risks missing bank interest, government payments or health fund details.
  • Check that your employer income statements are included and correct. If the pre-fill is wrong, ask the organisation that supplied it to correct it with the ATO.
  • Add deductions you have records for, plus income the ATO may not have, such as cash jobs, side work or crypto disposals.
  • Review the estimate. myTax shows a breakdown of your refund or debt before you lodge.
  • Lodge. You get an email receipt, and your notice of assessment arrives in your myGov inbox.

Worked example: estimating a 2025–26 tax refund

Suppose you earned $72,000 paid fortnightly, claimed the tax-free threshold, have no study loan, and claim $1,500 of work-related deductions. Over 26 pays, $13,884 would have been withheld under the 2025–26 tables. Your taxable income is $70,500. The ATO assesses income tax of $11,938 plus a Medicare levy of $1,410, a total of $13,348. That leaves an estimated refund of $536, and the deductions account for $480 of it.

Put your real numbers into the calculator above. The salary and tax withheld figures are on your income statement in myGov.

Why you might owe tax instead of getting a refund

The ATO's list of common reasons for a tax bill comes down to tax that was never withheld:

  • You claimed the tax-free threshold from more than one job, or had two jobs whose combined income moved you into a higher bracket.
  • You have a study loan but did not tell your employer, so no repayment amount was withheld.
  • You earned income with no withholding: interest, dividends, rent, sharing-economy work, a sole trader business, or a capital gain on shares, crypto or property.
  • You owe the Medicare levy surcharge, or received more private health insurance rebate as reduced premiums than your income entitles you to.
  • Your income rose enough to move you into a higher study-loan repayment rate, or you exceeded the concessional contributions cap for super.

After you lodge: statuses, delays and reviews

"In progress – Under review" means a person is checking your return. "Information pending" means the ATO is collecting more information to finish processing. Some returns briefly show as cancelled for 24 to 48 hours while they are checked. Do not lodge again, because a duplicate lodgment slows processing. Refunds can also be reduced to pay a tax debt or a debt owed to another agency, such as Services Australia or Child Support.

A notice of assessment is not always final. The ATO normally has 2 years (in some cases 4) to review your return and increase or reduce what you owe. If you find a mistake yourself, amend the return instead of lodging a second one.

Frequently asked questions

How is my tax refund calculated?

Refund = tax withheld during the year − tax assessed on your taxable income (after deductions and offsets, plus Medicare levy and any HELP repayment). If more was withheld than you owe, the difference is refunded.

When will I get my tax refund in 2026?

For a myTax return, the ATO aims to finish processing within 12 business days, and most refunds arrive within 2 weeks of lodging. Paper returns take up to 50 business days.

What happens if I miss the 31 October deadline?

Lodge as soon as you can, or contact a registered tax agent quickly, because the ATO says you need to contact a new agent before 31 October to be part of their lodgment program. If you owe tax, interest can apply after 21 November 2026.

Why does my return say "Under review"?

The ATO is manually checking your return before finalising it. For online lodgments this generally takes up to 30 calendar days, and phoning the ATO does not speed it up.

Is the refund estimate in myTax final?

No. It is the figure your notice of assessment is expected to show, but the ATO can still adjust it if your return does not match pre-fill data. Amounts can also be offset against debts.

Should I lodge my tax return in early July?

Waiting until the end of July is usually safer. Pre-fill data from employers, banks, health funds and government agencies is mostly finalised by then, which reduces the risk of a later amendment.

Sources

Figures are taken from official government publications and were last reviewed on 2026-10-03.

  1. ATO: Tax rates – Australian resident (Resident tax rates 2026–27 and 2025–26)
  2. ATO: Tax rates – foreign resident (Foreign resident tax rates 2025–26)
  3. ATO: Tax rates – working holiday makers (Working holiday maker tax rates 2025–26)
  4. ATO: Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners (Table: Medicare levy thresholds for a single individual, 2025–26)
  5. ATO: Medicare levy reduction – family income (family taxable income thresholds 2025–26, +$4,338 per dependent child)
  6. ATO: Medicare levy surcharge income, thresholds and rates (MLS income thresholds and rates for 2026–27 and 2025–26)
  7. ATO: Low income tax offset ($700 max; −5c per $1 over $37,500; −1.5c per $1 over $45,000; nil from $66,667)
  8. ATO: Seniors and pensioners tax offset (SAPTO rates and rebate income thresholds for 2025–26; 12.5c per $1 reduction)
  9. ATO: Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates (Table 1: 2026–27, Table 2: 2025–26)
  10. ATO: Schedule 1 (NAT 1004) – Using a formula (x = whole dollars + 99c; round to nearest dollar, 50c up)
  11. ATO: Personal income tax – new tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer (2026–27 SAPTO thresholds)
  12. ATO: Schedule 15 – Tax table for working holiday makers (Table A: rates for 2026–27, payments from 1 July 2026)
  13. ATO: Schedule 1 – Statement of formulas for calculating amounts to be withheld (NAT 1004), payments from 1 July 2026 – weekly coefficients
  14. ATO: Schedule 1 (NAT 1004) – Withholding amounts sample data, weekly (from 1 July 2026)
  15. ATO: Schedule 8 – Statement of formulas for calculating study and training support loans components (NAT 3539), payments from 1 July 2026
  16. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Contributions caps (Table 1.1 concessional, Table 4 non-concessional)
  17. ATO: Understanding concessional and non-concessional contributions (concessional contributions taxed in the fund at 15%)
  18. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Division 293 tax (Table 7: $250,000 threshold, 15% rate)
  19. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Super guarantee (Table 21 SG %, Tables 23–24 maximum contribution base)
  20. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Government contributions (Table 25 co-contribution thresholds; LISTO)
  21. ATO: Low income super tax offset (15% of concessional contributions, max $500, income $37,000 or less)
  22. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Transfer balance cap (Table 26)
  23. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Payments from super (Table 12 preservation age)
  24. ATO: Key super rates and thresholds – Employment termination payments (Table 17 ETP cap, Table 20 genuine redundancy limits)
  25. ATO: How ETP components are taxed (17%/32% incl. Medicare; $180,000 whole-of-income cap; 45% + 2% above cap)
  26. ATO: How GST works (10% rate)
  27. ATO: Registering for GST ($75,000 / $150,000 non-profit; taxi or limousine travel incl. ride-sourcing regardless of turnover)
  28. ATO: CGT discount (50% individuals and trusts, 33.33% complying super funds, 12-month ownership)
  29. ATO: Tax reform – Reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax (applies from 1 July 2027)
  30. ATO: Changes to company tax rates (25% base rate entity, $50m aggregated turnover, 2021–22 and future years)
  31. ATO: Company tax rates 2025–26
  32. ATO: Instant asset write-off for eligible businesses (Table 1: $20,000, turnover under $10 million)
  33. ATO Small business newsroom: $20,000 instant asset write-off here to stay (permanent from 1 July 2026)
  34. ATO: Small business income tax offset (16%, max $1,000, turnover under $5 million, 2021–22 onwards)
  35. Fair Work Ombudsman: Minimum wage increase starts today (1 July 2025 – $948.00/week, $24.95/hour, casual $31.19)
  36. Fair Work Ombudsman: Minimum wage increase starts today (1 July 2026 – $1,004.90/week, $26.44/hour, casual $33.05)
  37. Fair Work Commission: Annual Wage Review 2026 ([2026] FWCFB 3500, announced 2 June 2026)
  38. ATO: Preparing your tax return (due dates, 21 November payment date)
  39. ATO: Lodge with a registered tax agent (lodgment programs)
  40. ATO: Lodge your tax return online with myTax
  41. ATO: Pre-fill availability
  42. ATO: Your notice of assessment (processing timeframes, review period)
  43. ATO: Status of your tax return (why it may be delayed)
  44. ATO: Why you may receive a tax bill