HECS-HELP Repayment Band Distribution — FY 2026-27
The Australian Taxation Office's compulsory HECS-HELP repayment schedule for FY 2026-27 splits incomes into 19 bands. The first band — taxable income below $54,435 — carries a 0% rate (no compulsory repayment). The top band — income above $159,664 — applies the maximum 10.0% rate to your entire repayment income. The widest single band by dollar range is band 1, spanning $54,434 of income.
The schedule
| Band | Income from | Income to | Width | Rate | Repay at top |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $0 | $54,434 | $54,434 | 0.0% | $0 |
| 2 | $54,435 | $62,850 | $8,415 | 1.0% | $629 |
| 3 | $62,851 | $66,620 | $3,769 | 2.0% | $1,332 |
| 4 | $66,621 | $70,618 | $3,997 | 2.5% | $1,765 |
| 5 | $70,619 | $74,855 | $4,236 | 3.0% | $2,246 |
| 6 | $74,856 | $79,346 | $4,490 | 3.5% | $2,777 |
| 7 | $79,347 | $84,107 | $4,760 | 4.0% | $3,364 |
| 8 | $84,108 | $89,154 | $5,046 | 4.5% | $4,012 |
| 9 | $89,155 | $94,503 | $5,348 | 5.0% | $4,725 |
| 10 | $94,504 | $100,174 | $5,670 | 5.5% | $5,510 |
| 11 | $100,175 | $106,185 | $6,010 | 6.0% | $6,371 |
| 12 | $106,186 | $112,556 | $6,370 | 6.5% | $7,316 |
| 13 | $112,557 | $119,309 | $6,752 | 7.0% | $8,352 |
| 14 | $119,310 | $126,467 | $7,157 | 7.5% | $9,485 |
| 15 | $126,468 | $134,056 | $7,588 | 8.0% | $10,724 |
| 16 | $134,057 | $142,100 | $8,043 | 8.5% | $12,079 |
| 17 | $142,101 | $150,626 | $8,525 | 9.0% | $13,556 |
| 18 | $150,627 | $159,663 | $9,036 | 9.5% | $15,168 |
| 19 | $159,664 | — | open | 10.0% | open |
Repayment at top of each band
Compulsory repayment at the top of each band — FY 2026-27
The dollar repayment at the upper income edge of each band
Marginal rate by band
Percentage repayment rate by band
The rate applied to your entire repayment income once you cross the threshold
Pattern observations
Three structural patterns stand out from the FY 2026-27 schedule:
- The repayment rate scales linearly from 1% to 10% across 18 active bands — a half-percentage-point step at each new threshold.
- Band widths narrow as income rises, so equal rate-step intervals correspond to compressed dollar intervals at the top. This is consistent with a CPI-indexed structure where the lower bands move faster than the upper bands year-on-year.
- The repayment-at-top-of-band rises slightly super-linearly because both the rate and the income are increasing simultaneously, producing a roughly quadratic dollar curve.
Income-clustering implications
Because the HECS-HELP rate applies to your entire repayment income once you cross a threshold (unlike progressive income tax), workers earning income near a threshold can face significant marginal cliffs. A worker at $54,434 owes nothing; the same worker at $54,435 owes 1% of $54,435 = $544. Sole traders and consultants with year-end discretion over invoice timing sometimes optimise against this — see our HECS-HELP explainer for the mechanics.
How the FY 2026-27 schedule compares to recent years
The 2026-27 minimum threshold of $54,435 represents roughly an inflation-only step up from the FY 2025-26 figure. The number of bands and the maximum rate (10%) have been stable since the 2019 reform that established the current 19-band structure. Prior to 2019 the schedule had fewer bands but larger marginal jumps between them — the current structure is smoother by design, reducing the cliff effect at any single threshold.
Methodology
We store the ATO-published FY 2026-27 schedule in the hecs_thresholds table and compute band metrics — width, repay-at-top, repay-at-min — live at page render. The numbers on this page are not hardcoded; refreshing the page after any future schedule update would reflect the new figures immediately.
Source: Australian Taxation Office HELP, TSL and SFSS repayment thresholds and rates · 2026-27