Age Pension Calculator

Worked examples, with the arithmetic.

The same sums the tool runs, on real figures. Every number below is computed by the tested engine from the published rates, so the prose and the tool can never disagree.

$600 wages less $300 Work Bonus         = $300.00
deemed on $50,000 at 1.75% / 26         = $33.65
income counted                          = $333.65
($333.65 - $226) x 50c                  = $53.83
$1,237.70 - $53.83                      = $1,183.87
tax on wages and pension, a fortnight   = $123.31
wages plus pension, after tax           = $1,660.56

balance plus this fortnight             = $4,300
wages counted on $600                   = $0.00
Age Pension this fortnight              = $1,237.70
fortnights covered at $300 a fortnight  = 13

$1,000 less $300 Work Bonus             = $700.00
deemed on $110,600 at 1.75%, rest at 3.75% = $203.38
combined income counted                 = $903.38
($903.38 - $396) x 25c                  = $126.85 off each
$933.00 - $126.85                       = $806.15 each
the two of you, after tax               = $2,413.87

Rent Assistance on $500 rent            = $223.80
maximum rate with Rent Assistance       = $1,461.50
assets over $600,000, in $250 steps     = 600 steps
600 x $0.75                             = $450.00
pension under the assets test           = $1,011.50
pension under the income test           = $1,167.50

pension age for 1 July 1952 to 31 December 1953 = 65 and 6 months
31 October 1953 + 65 years 6 months     = 31 April 2019, no such day
first day of the next month             = 1 May 2019

Is this accurate, and how does it work?

Each step below is the rule Services Australia publishes, with the section of the Social Security Act 1991 the DSS Social Security Guide cites for it.

1. 1Check Age Pension age. Age Pension age is 67 for anyone born on or after 1 January 1957 (section 23(5A) to (5D)). People born from 1 July 1952 to 31 December 1956 reached it at 65 and 6 months to 66 and 6 months, and those steps have all taken effect. You also need 10 years of Australian residence, either in one stretch or in periods that include at least 5 years in a row.
2. 2Start from the maximum rate. From 20 September 2026 the maximum a fortnight is $1,135.40 basic rate, $88.20 Pension Supplement and $14.10 Energy Supplement for a single person, $1,237.70 in all. Each partner of a couple gets $933.00, and each partner of a couple apart due to illness gets the single rate. A renter adds Rent Assistance: 75c for each dollar of rent over $157.80 a fortnight single, or $255.80 combined for a couple, up to $223.80 single or $211.00 for a couple, split between them.
3. 3Take the Work Bonus off wages. The Work Bonus (section 1073AA) takes $300 a fortnight of wages or self-employment income out of the income test, plus any balance you have banked. Unused credit is banked, up to $11,800, and since 1 January 2024 everyone starting on the Age Pension begins with $4,000. Each partner's wages are offset only against their own balance.
4. 4Deem income on savings and investments. Deeming (section 1082) ignores what savings, shares and super actually earn and assumes a rate instead: 1.75% a year on the first $66,800 for a single person, or the first $110,600 combined for a couple, and 3.75% on the rest. Those rates apply from 20 September 2026; the thresholds from 1 July 2026.
5. 5Apply the income test. Wages counted after the Work Bonus, deemed income and any other income are added up for the fortnight. Over the free area, $226 single or $396 combined for a couple, a single pension falls by 50c a dollar and each partner's by 25c a combined dollar. It reaches nil at $2,701.40 single, $4,128.00 combined for a couple and $5,346.80 for a couple apart due to illness.
6. 6Apply the assets test. Everything you own counts except the home you live in. Over the free area, $333,000 for a single homeowner and $499,000 for a couple, or $600,000 and $766,000 if you do not own a home, each whole $250 costs $19.50 a year (section 1064-G4), which is $3.00 a fortnight for every $1,000. A couple's excess is split between them before rounding down, which is the only reading under which every cut-off Services Australia prints adds up.
7. 7Pay the lower of the two. The two tests are run separately and the lower result is paid. With modest savings the income test usually sets the pension of someone who works; with a large investment balance or property, the assets test does.
8. 8Tax the wages and pension together. The Age Pension is taxable income, though the Energy Supplement and Rent Assistance are not, as the ATO's myTax instructions list them as exempt. The calculator taxes 2026-27 wages and pension as if this fortnight repeated all year, takes off the low income tax offset and the seniors and pensioners tax offset, adds the Medicare levy at the thresholds for seniors, carried forward from 2025-26 until the ATO publishes 2026-27 ones, and divides by 26.

Age Pension rates from 20 September 2026.

The most paid a fortnight, before the income and assets tests. Services Australia and the Department of Social Services rates list print the same figures to the cent. The rates change on 20 March and 20 September, and the next change is due on 20 March 2027.

From 20 March to 19 September 2026 the totals were $1,200.90 single and $905.20 each for a couple. The Energy Supplement is not indexed and has not changed.

How much you can earn on the Age Pension.

A single homeowner with no savings, no other income and a nil Work Bonus balance, by wages a fortnight. The Work Bonus keeps the first $300 out of the income test, so the pension starts to fall above $526. Tax is the annual position with SAPTO, a fortnight.

Income test free areas and cut-offs.

Income over the free area reduces the pension until it reaches nil at the cut-off. The free areas apply from 1 July 2026 and the cut-offs from 20 September 2026. A couple’s income is combined and each pension falls by the same amount.

Assets test limits.

The full pension is paid up to the free area, from 1 July 2026. Above it each $250 costs $19.50 a year, $3.00 a fortnight for every $1,000, until the cut-off. Couple figures are combined. The home you live in is not counted.

Deeming rates and thresholds.

Savings, shares and super are deemed to earn these rates a year, whatever they really earn, and the result counts in the income test. The rates apply from 20 September 2026 and the thresholds from 1 July 2026.

Age Pension age by date of birth.

Age Pension age is 67 for everyone born on or after 1 January 1957. It rose in steps for people born from 1 July 1952, and every step has taken effect.

Leaving a job at or after this age changes how a final payment is taxed: the Redundancy Calculator explains why a payment made at Age Pension age is not a genuine redundancy.

Tax on the Age Pension and wages.

The Age Pension is taxable. The Energy Supplement and Rent Assistance are not: the ATO’s myTax 2026 list of amounts you do not pay tax on includes both. Services Australia does not withhold tax from the pension unless you ask it to, while an employer withholds from wages, so a pensioner who works can owe tax at the end of the year even though each payslip looked right.

What this does not cover.

• It is an estimate from published rates, not an assessment. Services Australia decides the amount you are paid, and its own Payment Finder, on its online estimators page, takes your full circumstances.
• It assumes both partners of a couple get the Age Pension. A couple where one partner is under Age Pension age, or gets another payment such as JobSeeker, is assessed differently.
• Transitional rate pensioners, who were on a part pension on 19 September 2009, have their own rates and tapers, which this does not apply.
• It does not model non-residents or people overseas, blind pensioners, or the Pension Supplement minimum amount.
• It does not model income streams held before 1 January 2015, lifetime income products, granny flat rights, gifts and deprivation, asset hardship, compensation or overseas pensions.
• Rent Assistance is for a single person or a couple renting privately, at the standard rate. Sharers, board and lodging, retirement villages and couples apart due to illness are not modelled.
• Each partner of a couple taking half the combined assets excess is inferred from the cut-offs Services Australia prints, which reconcile only that way. The Social Security Act text itself was not read.
• Tax is the annual position on this fortnight repeated, with the Medicare levy tested on each partner's own income and the Energy Supplement treated as tax-free in full. The Tax Return Calculator settles a finished year.
• Figures are those paid from 20 September 2026. The next indexation is 20 March 2027, and the page will not build from that date until it has been updated.

Where these figures come from.

• Services Australia, How much Age Pension you can get, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-20. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Department of Social Services, Social Security Payment Parameters, 20 September 2026, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-08. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 5.1.8.50, Indexation of pensions, the source gave its own last updated date as 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, Income test for Age Pension, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-20. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 4.10.3, Historical pension income and assets limits, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-07-01. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, Assets test for Age Pension, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-20. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 4.2.3, Pensions and benefits assets tests, the source gave its own last updated date as 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, Deeming, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-20. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 4.4.1.10, Overview of deeming, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-21. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, How the Work Bonus works, the source gave its own last updated date as 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, Work Bonus examples if you work, the source gave its own last updated date as 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 3.1.15.40, Work Bonus examples, the source gave its own last updated date as 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, How much Rent Assistance you can get, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-20. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 5.1.7.10, Rent Assistance current rates, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-09-21. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• Services Australia, Who can get Age Pension, the source gave its own last updated date as 2025-12-01. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• DSS Social Security Guide 3.4.1.10, Qualification for Age, the source gave its own last updated date as 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• ATO, myTax 2026 Amounts that you do not pay tax on, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-01. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• ATO, SAPTO rates and rebate income thresholds for 2026-27, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-05-13. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
• ATO, Low income tax offset, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-08. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
• ATO, Tax rates for Australian residents, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-08-13. Retrieved 2026-09-02.
• ATO, Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners, seniors and pensioners, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-30. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Not yet published for 2026-27: this is the prior year’s figure carried forward and labelled as such, never estimated. It is corrected as soon as the ATO publishes.

Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.

Common questions.

Related pages.

• SAPTO CalculatorWork out the seniors and pensioners tax offset: up to $2,230 single or $1,602 each in a couple, the 2026-27 rebate income thresholds, and the tax left to pay.
• Tax-Free ThresholdThe tax-free threshold is $18,200 for 2026-27. See the tax withheld from each pay with and without it, who should claim it, and what claiming it twice costs.
• Second Job Tax CalculatorWork out the tax on a second job for 2026-27, what each employer withholds without the tax-free threshold, and the bill or refund due at tax time.
• Redundancy CalculatorWork out NES redundancy pay by years of service, your notice period, and how much is tax-free as a genuine redundancy in 2026-27, with the ETP tax on the rest.
• Long Service Leave CalculatorLong service leave in every state and territory: weeks accrued, when pro rata is paid on leaving and for which reasons, and what it is worth at your pay.
• Tax Return CalculatorEstimate your 2025-26 tax refund or bill from your myGov income statement, with income tax, the offset, Medicare levy, surcharge and HELP shown line by line.

Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.