HECS-HELP Repayment Calculator
Estimate your compulsory HECS-HELP repayment for the Australian financial year 2025-26, using the official Australian Taxation Office schedule. Enter your income below to see your repayment rate and dollar amount.
- Bands
- 4
- Min threshold
- $67k
- Peak marginal
- 17%
- Tax year
- 2025-26
How this calculator works
This calculator applies Australia's income-contingent repayment schedule to the income you enter, checking which band your income falls into and applying that band's rate to the portion of income the schedule specifies. This is a loan-repayment schedule, not an income tax, so there is no filing status, no joint-filing option, and no standard deduction; repayment is calculated on individual income only. Once your income crosses a band threshold, the rate for that band applies to the relevant portion of your income as published by the scheme, not retroactively to income you earned in a lower band. The repayment amount shown updates automatically as the scheme's published thresholds and rates change each year. Repayments are compulsory once income crosses the minimum threshold and continue until the loan balance is repaid in full.
Required inputs: taxable income, tax year, outstanding HECS-HELP balance (optional).
Source: Australian Taxation Office, HELP repayment thresholds and rates (FY 2025-26)
Marginal peak ≠ top-band repayment
According to the ATO HELP schedule for FY 2025-26, the $125k–$179k band carries the peak 17% marginal rate, but above $179,286 the rule switches to a flat 10% of total repayment income — at $250,000 that produces $25,000, exceeding the $17,928 cumulative stack at the top of the 17% band.
- 17%
- Peak marginal ($125k–$179k)
- $18k
- Cumulative at top of peak band
- 10%
- Flat rule above $179k
- $25k
- Repayment at $250k example
According to the Australian Taxation Office HELP repayment thresholds and rates; enter income below to mirror the live schedule. Not tax advice.
Schedule inventory · hecs_thresholds
How 4 FY 2025-26 schedule rows split by repayment rule
Exclusive rule classes on the live ATO table (zero-rate floor, bounded marginal bands, open flat top). Parts sum to the schedule row count; orthogonal to the rate ChartBar below.
HECS-HELP rates by schedule threshold
Quick estimate
The 4-band ATO schedule for FY 2025-26
Each row below is one of the official ATO repayment bands. Since the 1 July 2025 reform the schedule is marginal, like income tax: each rate applies only to the portion of your repayment income within that band, nothing below $67,000, then the published mid bands, then a flat 10% of total repayment income above the open top threshold. The "repayment at top of band" column shows the cumulative repayment once your income reaches the top of each bounded band.
| Band | Income from | Income to | Rate | Repayment at top of band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $0 | $66,999 | 0.0% | $0 |
| 2 | $67,000 | $124,999 | 15.0% | $8,700 |
| 3 | $125,000 | $179,285 | 17.0% | $17,929 |
| 4 | $179,286 | - | 10.0% | open |
Source: Australian Taxation Office HELP, TSL and SFSS repayment thresholds and rates · 2025-26
What changes year to year
The ATO publishes new repayment thresholds and rates each May or June, after the Federal Budget. Three things move annually: the minimum threshold (the income above which any repayment is required), the step amounts between bands, and, separately, on 1 June each year, the indexation rate applied to your outstanding balance. Since the Higher Education Support Amendment Act 2024, indexation is the lower of CPI or WPI over the year to 31 March, capping the cost of carrying a balance during high-inflation years.
This page identifies the source records and data vintage used for its figures. This calculator applies the live ATO HECS-HELP threshold table rendered into the page, no figure is typed in by an editor. Nothing here is financial advice; for any decision that matters, follow the primary source and consult a qualified professional (see our disclaimer). See also our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of FY 2025-26.