Historical Tax Comparison
See how your income tax has changed over 5 financial years. Compare pre- and post-Stage 3 tax cuts, track your effective rate, and visualise the impact of bracket changes over time.
Your Details
Base salary applied to every financial year
Tax Change (FY 21-22 to FY 25-26)
less tax
Take-Home Change
more take-home
Stage 3 Tax Cut Impact
saved from FY 24-25
Tax & Take-Home Pay Over Time
Effective Tax Rate Over Time
Tax Component Breakdown by Year
Stage 3 tax cuts took effect from FY 2024-25, reducing income tax for most earners above $45,000.
Year-by-Year Breakdown
| Component | FY 21-22 | FY 22-23 | FY 23-24 | FY 24-25Stage 3 | FY 25-26Stage 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Tax | $18,091 | $18,091 | $18,091 | $16,288 | $16,288 |
| Medicare Levy | $1,700 | $1,700 | $1,700 | $1,700 | $1,700 |
| Total Tax | $19,791 | $19,791 | $19,791 | $17,988 | $17,988 |
| Take-Home Pay | $65,209 | $65,209 | $65,209 | $67,012 | $67,012 |
| Effective Rate | 23.3% | 23.3% | 23.3% | 21.2% | 21.2% |
| Marginal Rate | 32.5% | 32.5% | 32.5% | 30.0% | 30.0% |
| Superannuation | $8,500 | $8,925 | $9,350 | $9,775 | $10,200 |
Stage 3 Tax Cuts — From 1 July 2024
The Stage 3 tax cuts restructured Australia's income tax brackets. The 32.5% bracket was replaced with 30% (and extended to $135,000), the 37% bracket now starts at $135,001 (previously $120,001), and the 19% bracket was cut to 16%. For a salary of $85,000, this means you save $1,804 per year in total tax.
How Has Your Tax Changed Over Time?
How it works
This calculator runs the full Australian income tax calculation for five financial years — FY 2021-22 through FY 2025-26 — using the same gross salary (or a salary that grows at a rate you choose). For each year it applies the actual ATO-published tax brackets, Medicare levy thresholds, HECS/HELP repayment schedules, LITO offsets, and super guarantee rates.
The results are displayed as interactive charts and a detailed year-by-year comparison table. You can instantly see the dollar and percentage impact of the Stage 3 tax cuts, track how your effective tax rate has shifted, and compare your take-home pay across half a decade of tax policy changes.
The optional salary growth slider compounds your base salary annually from FY 2021-22 forward, modelling a realistic career trajectory where both your income and the tax rules change simultaneously.
When to use this calculator
- You want to see how much the Stage 3 tax cuts saved you compared to the old brackets
- You're curious how your effective tax rate has changed over 5 financial years
- You want to model how salary growth plus tax changes have affected your take-home pay over time
- You need to understand how rising super guarantee rates (10% to 12%) have increased your total package
- You're explaining tax bracket changes to a colleague and want a visual before-and-after
- You want to see whether HECS repayment threshold changes have shifted your repayment amount
Key concepts
- Stage 3 tax cuts (from 1 July 2024)
- The most significant income tax reform in recent years. The 32.5% bracket was replaced with 30% and extended from $120,000 to $135,000. The 19% bracket was cut to 16%. The 37% bracket now starts at $135,001 instead of $120,001. These changes benefit most taxpayers earning above $18,200, with the largest dollar savings going to those earning between $45,001 and $190,000.
- Pre-Stage 3 brackets (FY 2021-22 to FY 2023-24)
- Before Stage 3, Australian residents paid 19% on income from $18,201 to $45,000, 32.5% from $45,001 to $120,000, 37% from $120,001 to $180,000, and 45% above $180,000. These brackets were unchanged for several years, meaning bracket creep gradually pushed more income into higher tax bands as wages grew with inflation.
- Bracket creep
- When wage growth pushes you into a higher tax bracket without any real increase in purchasing power. If your salary grows at 3% per year but the tax brackets don't move, you pay a higher effective tax rate even though your real income hasn't changed. The Stage 3 cuts partially offset several years of bracket creep.
- Super guarantee rate increases
- The super guarantee has risen from 10% in FY 2021-22 to 12% in FY 2025-26 — a 20% increase in employer super contributions over four years. For an $85,000 salary, that's an extra $1,700/year going to your super fund. While this doesn't affect your take-home pay directly, it increases your total remuneration package and long-term retirement savings.
- Effective rate vs marginal rate over time
- Your marginal rate is the tax on your last dollar of income. Your effective rate is your total tax divided by total income. When tax brackets change (like Stage 3), your effective rate drops even if your marginal rate stays the same — because all income in the affected brackets is taxed at the new lower rate, not just new income.
Worked example — $100,000 salary across 5 financial years
Sarah earns $100,000 as an Australian resident with a HECS debt and private health insurance. She hasn't had a pay rise in five years. Here's how her tax has changed purely due to policy:
| Component | FY 21-22 | FY 22-23 | FY 23-24 | FY 24-25 | FY 25-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Tax | $24,187 | $24,187 | $24,187 | $22,788 | $22,788 |
| Medicare Levy | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| HECS | $7,000 | $7,000 | $7,000 | $6,000 | — |
| LITO | −$175 | −$175 | −$175 | −$175 | −$175 |
| Total Tax | $33,012 | $33,012 | $33,012 | $30,613 | $24,613 |
| Take-Home | $66,988 | $66,988 | $66,988 | $69,387 | $75,387 |
| Super | $10,000 | $10,500 | $11,000 | $11,500 | $12,000 |
Key takeaways:
- The Stage 3 tax cuts (FY 24-25) saved Sarah $1,399/year in income tax alone
- Her HECS repayment rate dropped from 7% to 6% due to threshold changes
- Super contributions grew by $2,000/year (10% to 12%) — money she didn't have to contribute herself
- Without any pay rise, Sarah's take-home pay increased by $2,399/year from FY 23-24 to FY 24-25
- Her effective tax rate dropped from 33.0% to 30.6% purely through policy changes
Historical Tax Comparison FAQ
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