HELP Repayment Calculator
Estimate your compulsory HECS or HELP repayment from repayment income under the marginal repayment system, with every threshold from official ATO rule packs.
Taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits, reportable super contributions, net investment losses and exempt foreign employment income.
Enter your repayment income to estimate the compulsory annual repayment.
Statutory rules retrieved from official sources · latest · Methodology
Common questions
How is a HELP or HECS repayment calculated?
The compulsory repayment is worked out from repayment income against the thresholds and rates published for the financial year selected, and it is assessed on your tax return rather than charged by your fund or provider. Depending on the year, the rules either apply a single rate to the whole repayment income or apply marginal rates only to income above a threshold; the calculator uses whichever system the resolved rule pack states. The repayment rate thresholds table shows the band that was applied and the ones either side of it.
What is repayment income?
Repayment income is taxable income plus reportable fringe benefits, reportable super contributions, net investment losses and exempt foreign employment income. It is deliberately broader than taxable income, so salary sacrificing into super does not reduce it. Enter that combined figure rather than salary alone for the repayment to be calculated correctly.
When does HELP indexation apply?
Indexation is applied once a year, on the date stated in the resolved rule pack, to any part of the debt that has been unpaid for the number of months the rules specify. The rate is published by the ATO and is based on the lower of the CPI and the Wage Price Index. This calculator applies one published year of indexation to the balance entered and does not project any later year.
Is the HECS taken out of my pay each fortnight the same as my compulsory repayment?
No. The study-loan component an employer withholds each week, fortnight or month is an estimate produced by the ATO withholding schedule, and it accumulates towards the compulsory repayment assessed on your return. The annual figure shown here is the assessed repayment, not a per-pay deduction, so the two can differ over a year. The PAYG withholding calculator shows the per-pay side from the published coefficients.
Which loans count towards the compulsory repayment?
The rules applied here are the combined study and training support loan rules, which cover HELP and the other study and training loan types the ATO assesses together. The repayment is calculated on repayment income rather than on the loan balance, so the same amount is assessed regardless of which of those loans is held. A loan balance is only needed for the indexation figures; to see the repayment inside a full pay position, use the take-home pay calculator.
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