HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator

How the marginal repayment method works

Since the 2025-26 income year, HECS-HELP (and other study and training support loan) repayments use a marginal method: only the portion of your repayment income that falls within each band is taxed at that band's rate. For 2026-27, the bands are nil up to $69,528, 15% between $69,528 and $129,717, 17% between $129,717 and $186,050, and 10% above $186,050. For example, on repayment income of $86,380, only the $16,852 above $69,528 is charged at 15%, giving a compulsory repayment of $2,527.80 — not 15% of the full $86,380, which the old system's single-rate approach would have implied once you crossed into that band.

2026-27 repayment thresholds and rates

What counts as repayment income

Repayment income isn't just your salary. It's your taxable income, plus total net investment losses (including rental property losses), total reportable fringe benefits, reportable super contributions (salary sacrifice and personally-deductible contributions), and exempt foreign employment income. If you salary sacrifice into super or claim rental losses, your repayment income can be materially higher than your taxable income — worth checking carefully rather than assuming your payslip figure is the whole story.

How indexation actually works

Once a year, on 1 June, whatever HELP debt balance you still have after that year's repayments is indexed. Since a 2023 law change, indexation uses the lower of CPI or WPI growth over the preceding 24 months, rather than CPI alone, which was the main driver of a run of unusually high indexation years. The most recently applied rate was 2.8% (June 2026) — see the ATO's study and training loan indexation rates page for the current figure. Because the rate depends on inflation and wage growth data that isn't known in advance, this calculator's indexation figure is a same-rate estimate, not a prediction of what next June's rate will actually be.

Compulsory repayments through your pay

If you have a HELP debt, your employer withholds additional PAYG amounts from your pay once you tell them (via your TFN declaration) that you have one, based on your expected income for the year. That withholding is only an estimate; your actual compulsory repayment is finalised when you lodge your tax return, using your real repayment income for the full year. If withholding was slightly too high or low relative to your actual repayment income, you'll see the difference as part of your refund or tax bill.

Worked example across two brackets

Take repayment income of $145,000. The first $69,528 attracts no repayment. The next $60,189 (from $69,528 to $129,717) is taxed at 15%: $9,028.35. The remaining $15,283 (from $129,717 to $145,000) is taxed at 17%: $2,598.11. Total compulsory repayment: $11,626.46 — an effective rate of about 8% of the full $145,000, well below the top marginal band's 17% headline rate, because only the income within each band is taxed at that band's rate.

Voluntary repayments and whether they're worth it

You can make voluntary repayments on top of your compulsory ones at any time, which reduces your balance immediately and therefore the amount exposed to next 1 June's indexation. Whether this is worthwhile depends on what else you'd do with the money: if you'd otherwise leave it in a low-interest savings account, paying down HELP debt ahead of indexation can be a reasonable, low-risk use of spare cash, though it's an irreversible decision (you can't withdraw it back out of the HELP system later) and doesn't suit everyone's cash flow position.

Related calculators

HECS-HELP repayment is calculated on top of your income tax and Medicare levy, not instead of them. See the Income Tax Calculator for your take-home pay before HELP repayments, and the First Home Super Saver Scheme Calculator if you're weighing up super contributions against paying down a HELP debt faster.