Second Job Tax Calculator
Work out the tax on a second job for 2026-27: what each employer withholds from each pay under the ATO withholding formulas, and the bill or refund that leaves at tax time. A second job is not taxed at a special rate. Tax is worked out once, on the total, at assessment, and the gap opens because neither employer knows the other exists.
Your details
The job you claim the tax-free threshold from.
Estimated tax bill at tax time
$2,802
- Main job withholds a fortnight
- $372
- Second job withholds a fortnight
- $138
- Withheld across the year, both jobs
- $13,260
- Tax owed on the combined income
- $16,062
- Shortfall to pay
- $2,802
- Second job withholding rate
- 17.9%
- Extra tax the second job adds a year
- $6,509
- As a share of second job pay
- 32.5%
The second employer withholds on the no-threshold scale, which treats that job as your only income above the tax-free threshold. It is not withholding at your marginal rate, and neither employer knows the other exists, so the difference is settled at tax time.
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.
Worked through: a $60,000 main job and a $20,000 second job, paid fortnightly
main $2,307.69 a fortnight, scale 2 = $374 withheld second $769.23 a fortnight, scale 1 = $138 withheld withheld over 26 pays = $13,312 tax owed on $80,000 = $16,120 bill at tax time = $2,808
The second employer withholds $138 a fortnight, which is 17.9% of that pay, because scale 1 treats the $20,000 as the only income above the tax-free threshold. At assessment the same $20,000 sits on top of $60,000 and costs $6,500, or 32.5% of it. The gap is a $2,808 bill.
What if the tax-free threshold was claimed on both jobs?
second $769.23 a fortnight, scale 2 = $6 withheld withheld over 26 pays = $9,880 tax owed on $80,000 = $16,120 bill at tax time = $6,240
Scale 2 withholds $6 a fortnight on the second job instead of $138, because it assumes the first $18,200 of that pay is tax free when the main job has already used the threshold. The bill grows to $6,240. The ATO says to claim the threshold from one payer only, usually the one that pays more.
What if one employer paid the whole $80,000?
$3,076.92 a fortnight, scale 2 = $622 withheld withheld over 26 pays = $16,172 tax owed on $80,000 = $16,120 refund at tax time = $52
One payer withholds $622 a fortnight on the same total income and lands $52 over, a small refund. The withholding schedules are tuned for one payer with one threshold, which is the whole reason two jobs produce a bill and one job on the same money does not.
What changes with a HELP or HECS debt?
study loan withheld, main job = $0 a fortnight study loan withheld, second job = $0 a fortnight compulsory repayment on $80,000 = $1,570.80 bill at tax time = $4,379
Neither pay crosses the Schedule 8 starting point on its own, so neither employer withholds anything for the loan, yet the combined income is over the repayment threshold. The whole $1,570.80 repayment lands at assessment on top of the income tax shortfall, taking the bill to $4,379.
Is this accurate, and how does it work?
The method is published rather than described. Nothing here is a black box, and the limits are listed as plainly as the workings.
- 1Withhold on each job as its own employer would. Each pay is converted to the ATO weekly earnings figure and run through the Schedule 1 formula, scale 2 for the job that claims the tax-free threshold and scale 1 for the job that does not. The result is rounded to the dollar the way the schedule directs, then doubled for a fortnight or scaled by 13 over 3 for a month. The Weekly Pay Calculator, Fortnightly Pay Calculator and Monthly Pay Calculator apply the same schedule to a single job, with the yearly position per pay shown beside it.
- 2Add the study loan component only where a pay earns it. With a HELP or HECS debt declared, the Schedule 8 component is worked out on each pay separately. It starts at $1,337 a week on the threshold scale and $987 a week on the no-threshold scale, so two modest pays can each withhold nothing while the combined income is well over the repayment threshold. The HECS Repayment Calculator works out the compulsory repayment that combined income owes, and STSL Component shows what each pay withholds for it.
- 3Assess once on the combined income. The two annual amounts are added and taxed on the resident scale with the Medicare levy, the Low Income Tax Offset and, where declared, the compulsory study loan repayment, the same scale the Income Tax Calculator applies to a single income. This is the figure the ATO arrives at when you lodge, and it does not care how many employers paid it.
- 4Report the difference, signed. Tax owed less tax withheld is the bill. Withheld more than owed is the refund. The extra tax the second job adds is shown too, as a dollar figure and as a share of that job, so the withholding rate and the true rate sit side by side.
What this does not cover.
- It uses withholding scales 1 and 2 only. Foreign residents, working holiday makers, payees with no TFN, and Medicare levy exemptions or the family reduction use other scales and are not modelled.
- It does not include allowances, tax offsets claimed through a withholding declaration, or any extra withholding you have already agreed with a payer.
- It assumes 52 weekly, 26 fortnightly or 12 monthly pays. A 53 or 27 pay year is not modelled.
- The assessed figure is on the two wages alone. Deductions, other income, the Medicare levy surcharge and private health cover are outside it. An age pensioner with a job is taxed on wages and the pension together, which the Age Pension Calculator works out.
- It runs on the 2026-27 schedules only. The 2025-26 coefficients are not loaded, so there is no year switch on this page.
Where these figures come from.
- ATO, Schedule 1, coefficients for withholding from weekly payments, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-17. Retrieved 2026-09-17.
- ATO, Schedule 8, study and training support loans components, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-17. Retrieved 2026-09-17.
- ATO, Multiple jobs or change of job, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-05. Retrieved 2026-09-17.
- 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, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-30. Retrieved 2026-09-02. 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.
- ATO, Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-30. Retrieved 2026-09-11.
Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.
Common questions.
Is a second job taxed at a higher rate in Australia?
No. There is no separate rate for a second job. All of your income from every payer is added together and taxed once, on the resident scale, when you lodge. What changes is where the second job sits: every dollar of it lands on top of your main pay, so it is taxed at your marginal rate rather than starting from zero. On a $60,000 main job the next $20,000 costs about 32.5 cents in the dollar, being the 30c bracket, the 2% Medicare levy and the sliver of low income tax offset the extra income removes. A bonus is taxed the same way, on top of the salary, as the Tax on Bonus Calculator shows. A family on Family Tax Benefit also loses 20c of Part A for each extra dollar of family income over $69,131, as the Family Tax Benefit Calculator shows.
Do I pay tax on a second job if I earn under $18,200 in total?
Not at assessment. If your combined income from every payer is $18,200 or less, no income tax is payable and anything withheld comes back as a refund. The ATO says that if you are certain your total will stay at or under $18,200 you can claim the tax-free threshold from each payer, so nothing is withheld in the first place. If the total might go over, claim it from one payer only.
Why did I get a tax bill with two jobs?
Because each employer withheld as though yours was the only pay it needed to cover, and neither knew about the other. The main job used the tax-free threshold. The second job, on the no-threshold scale, withheld as if that pay were your only income above the threshold, which at typical second-job earnings is well under the 30c plus Medicare levy you actually owe on it. The ATO page on why you may receive a tax bill names multiple jobs, and claiming the threshold for more than one job, directly. For a finished year, the refund or bill on your tax return, with every payer added together, is worked out on the Tax Return Calculator. Mid-year, adding both payslips’ year-to-date figures into the YTD Income Calculator shows whether a bill is building.
How much tax should my second employer withhold?
The amount the ATO Schedule 1 no-threshold scale gives for that pay, which is what the second job line on this page shows. It withholds from the first dollar, unlike the threshold scale, which withholds nothing until $363 a week. If that will still leave a shortfall, the ATO lets you ask the employer in writing to withhold an extra fixed amount each pay, and the extra is simply added to the normal amount. This page shows the size of the shortfall so you can pick the top-up.
Can I claim the tax-free threshold on both jobs?
Only if you are certain your total income from all payers will be $18,200 or less for the year. Otherwise the ATO says to claim it from one payer, usually the one that pays the most, and have the other withhold at the no-threshold rate. If you have already claimed it twice, give the second employer a withholding declaration to stop it. The ATO calls claiming it from multiple employers a common mistake, and it is the usual reason for a bill. The Tax-Free Threshold page puts the two scales side by side for one pay and shows what claiming it twice adds to the bill.
Does my second employer have to pay super?
Yes. The Superannuation Guarantee is an obligation on each employer separately, at 12% of qualifying earnings for 2026-27, paid on top of your wage into your fund. It is not deducted from your pay, so it does not appear in the withholding figures here. The Super Guarantee Calculator works out the amount on any earnings figure.
Related pages.
- Income Tax CalculatorWork out income tax, the Medicare levy and the low income tax offset on any salary for 2026-27, with the bracket-by-bracket working shown.
- HECS Repayment CalculatorWork out your compulsory HECS, HELP or STSL study loan repayment for 2026-27 on the marginal thresholds that replaced the old flat-rate tables.
- Super Guarantee CalculatorWork out the superannuation your employer must pay on top of your wage at the 12% guarantee rate for 2026-27.
- Fortnightly Pay CalculatorWork out fortnightly take-home pay from an annual salary, with income tax, the Medicare levy and super shown separately.
Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.