Zone Tax Offset Calculator
Work out the zone tax offset for a home in a remote or isolated part of Australia, or the overseas forces tax offset for service in a specified overseas locality, for 2025-26, the year being lodged now, or 2026-27. The fixed amounts are $338 in Zone A, $57 in Zone B and $1,173 in a special area, and each grows with a share of a base amount for the children and students you maintain. Which zone a town sits in comes from the ATO Australian zone list, linked below the calculator. This page works out what the offset is worth once you know.
Your details
Look the town up on the ATO Australian zone list, linked further down. For overseas forces, choose where you served.
Only if you are entitled to it. It has its own income tests and is worked out separately.
Zone tax offset
$338
- Base amount: children, students, sole parent, invalid carer offset
- $0.00
- Zone A: $338 plus 50% of the base
- $338.00
- Zone tax offset, worked out
- $338.00
- To claim at Zone or overseas forces, no cents
- $338
The offset is non-refundable: it can reduce income tax to nil but is not paid out on its own.
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.
What is the zone tax offset with no children or students?
Special area = $1,173 Zone A = $338 Zone B = $57 Overseas forces = $338
The fixed amount is the whole offset for 2025-26 when your usual place of residence was in one place for 183 days or more and there is no base amount: $1,173 in a special area, $338 in Zone A and $57 in Zone B. Overseas forces service for 183 days or more carries the same $338 as Zone A.
What does a Zone A resident with two children under 21 claim?
oldest child, not a student = $376 second child = $282 base amount = $658 50% of the base = $329.00 Zone A fixed amount = $338 zone tax offset = $667
$667. Children who are not students count $376 for the oldest and $282 for each of the others, provided each is maintained by you alone for the whole year with adjusted taxable income under $286. Zone A adds half of that $658 base to its $338 fixed amount.
And a sole parent in a special area with one child?
child = $376 sole parent, full year = $1,607 base amount = $1,983 50% of the base = $991.50 special area fixed amount = $1,173 worked out = $2,164.50 claimed, no cents = $2,164
$2,164. The sole parent amount of $1,607 joins the base only where there is a child or student amount of at least $1, and a special area adds half of the base to the highest fixed amount. The return takes whole dollars, so the 50 cents is dropped.
What if you lived in Zone A for 100 days and Zone B for 120?
Zone A, 100 of 183 days = $338 x 100 / 183 = $184.70 Zone B, 83 of 183 days = $57 x 83 / 183 = $25.85 claimed, no cents = $210
$210, on the ATO's own example. Neither zone reaches 183 days, but together they pass it, so places are counted from the higher fixed amount down: all 100 Zone A days, then 83 of the Zone B days to make 183. Had the Zone A stay been 183 days or more, Zone A alone would have given the full $338.
What about 100 days of overseas service?
overseas forces, 100 of 183 days = $338 x 100 / 183 = $184.70 claimed, no cents = $184 plus 83 days in a zone = $338, the full amount
$184 on its own. Unlike the zone tax offset, overseas service short of 183 days still earns its share, but days from an earlier year cannot be carried in. Add 83 days in a zone and the total reaches 183, which earns the full $338; a Defence Force member's zone days count only if they were defence force service.
What does claiming $1,173 through payroll change in 2026-27?
weekly, 1.9% = $22 less withheld fortnightly, 3.8% = $45 less withheld monthly, 8.3% = $97 less withheld 26 fortnights = $1,170
A special area resident who claims the offset on a Withholding declaration has $45 less tax withheld each fortnight, $1,170 over the year against a $1,173 offset. The payer applies it only where you claim the tax-free threshold from them. The 2026-27 amount is the 2025-26 figure carried forward until the ATO publishes the 2026-27 instructions.
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.
- 1Start from your usual place of residence. Eligibility turns on where you usually live, not where you work. In the ATO examples, an engineer who lives in Adelaide and flies to Alice Springs for 12-day shifts cannot claim, and one who lives in Darwin, which is Zone A, and drives to a mine in Kununurra for 14-day shifts claims Zone A for Darwin. An offshore oil or gas rig is never a zone.
- 2Count 183 days. The full offset needs your usual place of residence in a zone for 183 days or more in the income year, not necessarily in one stretch. A shorter stay can still count. If you could not claim for the previous year because it fell short too, the days in both years together need to reach 183. A continuous stay of under five years that runs through 1 July can add the days of a first year you could not claim for in the same way.
- 3Take the fixed amount for the zone. Zone A is $338, Zone B $57, a special area in either zone $1,173, and overseas forces $338. A special area is a place more than 250 km, by the shortest practicable surface route, from the nearest population centre of 2,500 people or more. With no children, students or invalid carer offset, the fixed amount is the whole offset.
- 4Add a share of the base amount. The base amount is $376 for each full-time student under 25, $376 for the oldest child under 21 who is not a student and $282 for each other child, plus $1,607 for a sole parent and any invalid and invalid carer tax offset. Zone A, special areas and overseas forces add 50% of it, Zone B 20%. A child's adjusted taxable income of $286 or more, a part year or shared care reduces their amount.
- 5Split the year across places. If you lived in two zones, or served overseas for part of the year, places are counted from the highest fixed amount down, each for its days, until 183 are used, and each amount is multiplied by its days over 183. Overseas service short of 183 days earns the full overseas forces offset if days in a zone make up the rest.
- 6Take off any remote area allowance, and claim the higher offset. A remote area allowance paid by Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs comes off the zone tax offset dollar for dollar, though not off the overseas forces offset. Only one of the two offsets can be claimed, so the calculator keeps the higher, and the return takes it at Zone or overseas forces in whole dollars.
Zone tax offset amounts, 2025-26 and 2026-27.
The fixed amount is the whole offset for a full year with no children, students or invalid carer offset. The share is the part of the base amount added on top.
| Place | Fixed amount, 2025-26 | Share of base amount | Fixed amount, 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special area | $1,173 | 50% | $1,173 (carried forward) |
| Zone A | $338 | 50% | $338 (carried forward) |
| Zone B | $57 | 20% | $57 (carried forward) |
| Overseas forces | $338 | 50% | $338 (carried forward) |
The base amount for children and students.
For a dependant maintained by you alone for the whole year, with adjusted taxable income under $286. Above $282 of their income the amount falls by $1 for every $4, and a part year or shared care takes a share of it.
| For | Base amount |
|---|---|
| Each full-time student under 25 | $376 |
| The oldest child under 21 who is not a student | $376 |
| Each other child under 21 who is not a student | $282 |
| Sole parent with sole care all year | $1,607, or $4.40 a day |
| Invalid and invalid carer tax offset | The amount you are entitled to |
Find your town on the ATO zone list.
The ATO keeps the zone list by state and territory, with a separate page for remote islands and territories. There are no locations in the ACT or Victoria. The list is not exhaustive: a place more than 250 km by the shortest practicable surface route from the nearest population centre of 2,500 or more can be a special area without being listed.
What this does not cover.
- It does not tell you which zone a town is in. That comes from the ATO Australian zone list, which the ATO says is not exhaustive: a place more than 250 km by the shortest practicable surface route from a centre of 2,500 people can be a special area without being listed.
- Children and students are counted for the whole year, maintained by you alone, with adjusted taxable income under $286. A part year, shared maintenance, or income of $286 or more reduces their base amount on the ATO worksheets and is not modelled.
- The sole parent amount is the full-year $1,607. Sole care for part of the year earns $4.40 a day instead, which is not modelled.
- The invalid and invalid carer tax offset is taken as the figure you enter. It has its own income tests and is worked out with the ATO calculator or at question T5.
- Days carried in from an earlier year are added as entered. The conditions on them are for you to check against the ATO instructions: you could not claim for that first year, and a stay that began before last year must be continuous, under five years, and run through 1 July this year.
- For overseas forces, a Defence Force member's days in a zone count only if they were defence force service, and service whose pay is exempt foreign employment income does not count at all.
- It works out the offset, not your tax. The offset is non-refundable, so if your income tax is smaller than the offset, the difference is not paid out. The Income Tax Calculator works out the tax on a salary.
- The 2026-27 amounts are the 2025-26 amounts carried forward until the ATO publishes the 2027 instructions.
Where these figures come from.
- ATO, T4 Zone or overseas forces 2026: fixed amounts and base shares, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-05-30. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, T4 Zone or overseas forces 2026: child, student and sole parent base amounts, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-05-30. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, Zone and overseas forces offset amounts for 2026-27, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-05-30. Retrieved 2026-09-27. 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, Schedule 1, tax offsets claimed on a withholding declaration, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-17. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, Zone tax offset, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-08. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, Overseas forces tax offset, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-08. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, Australian zone list, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-07-01. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, myTax 2026 Zone or overseas forces, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-01. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, Norfolk Island residents and individual tax, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-05-05. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, About tax offsets, the source gave its own last updated date as 2026-06-08. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ATO, Withholding declaration, the source gave its own last updated date as 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
Every rate this site uses is listed on the Methodology page.
Common questions.
How much is the zone tax offset?
For 2025-26 the fixed amounts are $1,173 in a special area, $338 in Zone A and $57 in Zone B, and $338 for overseas forces. Children and students add a share of the base amount, 50% in Zone A or a special area and 20% in Zone B, so a Zone A resident with two children under 21 who are not students claims $667. The same figures are used for 2026-27 until the ATO publishes that year's instructions.
Who can claim the zone tax offset?
Anyone whose usual place of residence was in Zone A or Zone B for 183 days or more in the income year, or who meets one of the carry-in rules for a shorter stay, and who has assessable income they pay tax on and lodges a return. Working in a zone is not enough: since 1 July 2015 eligibility has turned on usual place of residence. Outstanding returns need to be lodged before the offset can be claimed.
Can FIFO workers claim the zone tax offset?
Only where home is in a zone. The ATO example is Levi, who lives in Adelaide and flies to Alice Springs for 12-day shifts. He is there for 183 days or more and still cannot claim, because Adelaide is his usual place of residence. It works the other way too: a worker who lives in Darwin, which is Zone A, claims Zone A while working shifts somewhere else.
What is the ATO zone list?
The Australian zone list is the ATO's list of towns and localities in Zone A, Zone B and the special areas, arranged by state and territory, with a separate page for remote islands and territories such as Macquarie Island and the Australian Antarctic Territory. There are no locations in the ACT or Victoria. The ATO says the list is not exhaustive, so a place that meets the special area test can qualify without being on it. The links are further down this page.
Can I claim the zone tax offset if I moved during the year?
Often, yes. The ATO example is Narendra, who lived on Lord Howe Island, a Zone A special area, from 23 March 2025 to 31 October 2025. He could not claim for 2024-25 on 100 days, but those 100 days and 124 in 2025-26 make 224, so he claims in his 2025-26 return. Days that do not reach 183 across the years the rules allow earn nothing.
Can I get the zone tax offset in my pay?
Yes. Question 7 of the Withholding declaration lets you claim a zone or overseas forces offset through reduced withholding. For 2026-27 the payer cuts the tax on each pay by 1.9% of the offset a week, 3.8% a fortnight or 8.3% a month, rounded to the dollar, so a special area offset of $1,173 means $45 less withheld a fortnight. It applies only with a payer you claim the tax-free threshold from, and the ATO warns that overestimating it can leave a tax debt.
Is the zone tax offset refundable?
No. It is non-refundable: it can reduce the tax on your taxable income to nil, but on its own it cannot produce a refund. The Low Income Tax Offset is non-refundable too, and with both, the total still cannot take income tax below nil. The seniors and pensioners tax offset is non-refundable in the same way, and is worked out on the SAPTO Calculator. Tax already withheld from your pay is refunded as usual when you lodge, which the Tax Return Calculator works through.
Can I claim both the zone and overseas forces tax offsets?
No, only one. Where you qualify for both, the ATO says to claim the one that gives the higher offset, which is what the calculator does. Service overseas and days in a zone can still combine: 100 days overseas and 83 in a zone make up the 183 days for the full overseas forces offset. For a Defence Force member the zone days count only if they were defence force service, and the base salary for that service, by rank and pay grade, is on ADF Pay Scales.
Did the zone tax offset change for 2026-27?
No change has been published. The fixed amounts are written into section 79A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 as dollar figures, with no indexation in that section, and the ATO zone tax offset page, updated 8 June 2026, gives the same $1,173, $338 and $57. The ATO prints the full worksheets for each year with that year's return instructions, and the 2026-27 set is not out yet, so the 2026-27 figures here are the 2025-26 ones carried forward and marked as such.
Does the zone tax offset count as income for Centrelink?
No. The ATO states that the zone tax offset is not assessable income for Centrelink purposes. A remote area allowance works the other way round: the amount you received comes off the zone tax offset.
Related pages.
- Low Income Tax OffsetWork out your low income tax offset for 2026-27. Up to $700, tapering to nil at $66,667, with the tax it saves and why most of it arrives at tax time.
- 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.
- Tax Withheld CalculatorWork out the PAYG tax withheld from a weekly, fortnightly or monthly pay on the ATO 2026-27 formulas, with the working and the tax owed when you lodge.
- 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.
Every calculator on this site is listed on the Wage Calculator page.