How tax works and how much you pay
How tax works
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) collects taxes for the Australian Government. The taxes everyone pays, fund community services like:
- health care
- education
- roads and train lines
- the Australian Defence Force
- payments for welfare, disaster relief and pensions.
Your pay slip shows how much tax you’ve paid. Find out more about what your pay slip should include on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
How much tax to pay
You pay tax on most income you earn. When you work, your employer withholds tax from your pay. How much they withhold depends on your income and circumstances.
Find out your income tax rate or use the simple tax calculator on the ATO website.
If you’re on a visa and working in Australia, find out about tax and superannuation as a visa holder.
Tax-free threshold
If you’re an Australian resident, you can claim the tax-free threshold. This is the amount you can earn before you pay tax. You can choose to claim the tax-free threshold on a tax file number (TFN) declaration when you start a new job.
If you work for more than one employer, generally, you only claim the tax-free threshold from one.
Find out more about the tax-free threshold on the ATO website.
How to get ready to pay tax
When you start working, your employer will ask you to complete a TFN declaration. You’ll need to advise your TFN, residency status and other personal information on the declaration. This helps your employer work out how much tax they need to withhold from your pay.
Find out more about what you need to provide to your employer and the TFN declaration. Some of these links will take you away from myGov.
Information in your language
There’s information about tax and superannuation in other languages on the ATO website.