Enter your bonus and your salary to see the tax and Medicare levy on your bonus, and what you keep, at the 2026–27 tax rates.
Before tax, without the bonus
Your bonus after tax
$3,400
You keep 68% of a $5,000 bonus
What this means
A bonus isn’t taxed at a special rate: it’s taxed like the rest of your pay, at your top rate. Here that takes 32%, because the whole bonus sits on top of your salary.
Your employer works out the tax to withhold using the ATO’s method for bonuses, which spreads the bonus over the year’s pay periods, so it’s usually close to your marginal rate. Any difference is settled in your tax return.
If you arrange it before the bonus is paid, salary sacrificing it into super means it’s taxed at 15% in the fund instead of your marginal rate.
| Bonus | $5,000 |
| Income tax | −$1,500 |
| Medicare levy | −$100 |
| You keep | $3,400 |
| Your salary (2026–27) | Tax rate on the bonus | With Medicare levy | You keep about |
|---|---|---|---|
| $18,201 to $45,000 | 15% | 17% | 83% |
| $45,001 to $135,000 | 30% | 32% | 68% |
| $135,001 to $190,000 | 37% | 39% | 61% |
| Over $190,000 | 45% | 47% | 53% |
If the bonus takes you into the next bracket, the part above the threshold is taxed at the higher rate. HELP repayments, the low income tax offset and the Medicare levy surcharge can change what you keep; the calculator includes the first two.
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A bonus is taxed at your marginal rate, the same as the top slice of your salary, plus the 2% Medicare levy. On a salary between $45,000 and $135,000, that's 30% plus 2%, so you keep about 68% of the bonus.
Employers use the ATO's method for bonuses, which spreads the bonus over the year's pay periods to work out the withholding. It's usually close to your marginal rate. If too much is withheld, you get it back in your tax return.
Yes, if your employer agrees and you arrange it before you're entitled to the bonus. It's then taxed at 15% in your super fund instead of your marginal rate, up to the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026–27, which includes your employer's contributions.
It depends. Super guarantee is paid on ordinary time earnings, which include most performance bonuses but not bonuses for overtime. Check your payslip or ask your employer.