HECS Repayment Calculator and Thresholds 2026-27

HECS Repayment Table 2026-27: Thresholds and Rates

The minimum repayment threshold for 2026-27 is $69,528, up from $67,000 in 2025-26. Since 1 July 2025 the rates apply marginally, so only the income above the threshold is charged.

Repayment income is wider than your salary. The ATO adds together:

• taxable income
• reportable fringe benefits
• total net investment loss
• reportable super contributions
• exempt foreign employment income

That is why salary sacrificing into super does not drop you under the threshold — the contributions are added back. The threshold is indexed every year: it was $67,000 in 2025-26, and one set of thresholds covers HELP, VSL, SFSS, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL and AASL alike.

Repayment Table for 2025-26 (Your 2026 Tax Return)

Your tax return lodged in 2026 is assessed on the 2025-26 thresholds, not the table above. The 20% one-off reduction to debts existing on 1 June 2025 has already been applied to your balance and does not change these repayment bands.

Repayment at Common Incomes (2026-27)

ATO, Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates. Enter your own income in the calculator above for the exact figure.

HECS Repayment on $80,000 (2026-27)

On a repayment income of $80,000 the compulsory HECS repayment for 2026-27 is $1,571 a year, or $30.21 a week. That is 15 cents for each dollar of the $10,472 above the $69,528 threshold, about 2.0% of your income. The same calculation at other common salaries:

Repayment income is not always your salary: reportable fringe benefits, net investment losses and reportable super contributions are added back. The $80,000 row assumes salary is the only component.

How Much HECS Do I Have to Pay?

It depends on your income, not on the size of your debt. If your repayment income is $69,528 or less you pay nothing in 2026-27. Above that you pay 15 cents for each dollar over $69,528, stepping to $9,028 plus 17 cents per dollar from $129,718, and 10% of your whole repayment income from $186,051. The repayment is the same whether you owe $5,000 or $50,000, until the balance reaches zero and repayments stop.

Your employer withholds the repayment through PAYG during the year using your tax file number declaration, and the exact amount is settled when your return is assessed. See why your payslip deduction differs from the annual figure.

Is HECS Interest Free?

Yes, in the sense that the government charges no interest on a HECS-HELP debt. What it does charge is indexation: on 1 June each year the ATO adjusts the part of your balance that has been unpaid for more than 11 months, using the lower of CPI or the Wage Price Index. The 1 June 2026 rate was 2.8000000000000003%.

Worked example: on a balance of $30,000 that had been unpaid for more than 11 months, 2.8000000000000003% indexation adds $840, taking it to $30,840. Indexation protects the real value of the loan; it is not a profit margin, and a debt that is repaid steadily grows far less than one left alone. The full history and the voluntary repayment timing rules are in the indexation section below.

Every Study and Training Loan This Covers

There is no separate HECS calculation. The ATO states that all study and training loan types are covered by the same set of thresholds and rates for each financial year, so the figure above is your compulsory repayment whichever of the six loans you hold — and it is a single repayment even if you hold several.

ATO, Study and training loan repayment thresholds and rates and Types of loans. Loan fee and lifetime limit rules differ by scheme and are set by the Department of Education, not the ATO — check Study Assist before relying on a fee figure.

If You Hold More Than One Loan

You make one compulsory repayment, worked out on your total repayment income. The ATO then applies it to your loans in the fixed order in the table: HELP first, then VSL, SFSS, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL and AASL last. Holding two loans does not double the repayment; it only changes which balance falls first.

Living Overseas

The overseas obligation is narrower than the repayment rules. It applies to HELP, VSL and AASL debts only. If you reside outside Australia for 183 days or more in any 12-month period you must lodge an overseas travel notification within 7 days of leaving, then report your worldwide income by 31 October each year. If your worldwide income is at or below 25% of the minimum repayment threshold, you lodge a non-lodgment advice instead. The same thresholds and rates then apply to that worldwide income.

Full detail: ATO, Overseas obligations when repaying loans.

How Are HECS Repayments Calculated?

1. Work out repayment income: taxable income plus the four add-backs above.
2. Compare it to $69,528. At or below that, the compulsory repayment is $0.
3. From $69,529 to $129,717, repay 15 cents per dollar above $69,528.
4. From $129,718 to $186,050, repay $9,028 plus 17 cents per dollar above $129,717.
5. From $186,051, repay 10% of total repayment income — the one band that is not marginal.

Use our Pay Calculator to see the repayment inside a full after-tax breakdown with income tax, the Medicare levy and superannuation.

How Does HECS Affect Your Take-Home Pay?

Between $75,000 and $120,000, the compulsory repayment costs $15.79 to $145.60 a week.

Nothing is payable at $65,000 or at the $69,528 threshold itself. Moving to $72,000 costs $371 for the year ($7.13/week) — the marginal system removed the old cliff, where a dollar over the line triggered a percentage of your entire income. Take-Home Pay Calculator gives the full net pay breakdown.

Why Your Payslip Deduction Differs From Your Actual Repayment

The amount withheld each pay is an estimate. Employers withhold an additional PAYG component — shown as STSL on most payslips — from ATO withholding schedules, based on that pay period's earnings alone.

Your actual compulsory repayment is only worked out when you lodge, using full-year repayment income. If your pay varied, or you had investment losses, reportable fringe benefits or reportable super, the two will not match, and the difference is settled through your refund or tax bill.

See STSL on your payslip for a worked payslip example and how to stop the deduction once the loan is cleared.

Indexation and Voluntary Repayments

Study loans carry no interest. Instead the ATO applies indexation on 1 June each year to the part of the balance unpaid for more than 11 months, at the lower of CPI or the Wage Price Index. On 1 June 2026 the rate was 2.8000000000000003% — read more on HECS indexation 2026.

That cap — the lower of CPI or WPI — was introduced after the June 2023 indexation came in at 7.1% under a CPI-only formula. It was backdated, and the ATO recalculated both 2023 and 2024, crediting the difference to affected balances.

ATO, Study and training loan indexation rates.

One quirk matters for timing. Compulsory repayments made through PAYG during the year are not credited to your loan until your return is assessed — usually after 1 June. So the balance that gets indexed is often larger than the balance you think you have. Separately, every study and training support debt that existed on 1 June 2025 received a one-off 20% reduction; the ATO has finished processing it, and accounts left in credit were refunded.

A voluntary repayment only reduces the indexed amount if it lands before 1 June. Beyond that timing point the case for paying early is a straight comparison: 2.8000000000000003% indexation against what the money would earn or save elsewhere. Credit cards, car loans and personal loans all cost more, so they come first.

Where a voluntary repayment does stack up:

• You are applying for a mortgage. Lenders treat the compulsory repayment as a fixed commitment and it reduces borrowing capacity, so clearing a small balance can buy back more than the indexation you save.
• The balance is nearly gone. Finishing it removes the STSL deduction from every pay for the rest of the year.
• You are leaving Australia. The obligation follows you, and reporting worldwide income each year from abroad is an ongoing chore.

Timing beats amount. A payment on 31 May reduces what gets indexed; the same payment on 2 June does not. Allow processing time — BPAY to the ATO is not instant. Detail: ATO, Voluntary repayments.

Weighing it against super instead? See extra super vs HECS repayment.

Dates That Matter

Common HECS Mistakes

1. Not telling your employer about the loan. Without the declaration there is no STSL withholding at all, and the whole repayment — $1,571 on $80,000 — arrives as a lump sum at tax time.
2. Using salary instead of repayment income. A wage of $66,000 with $5,000 of reportable super is repayment income of $71,000 — above the $69,528 threshold.
3. Assuming salary sacrifice removes the repayment. Reportable super contributions are added back, so the benefit is small. Model it with the salary sacrifice calculator.
4. Paying voluntarily on 2 June. Indexation has already been applied to the 1 June balance. A day earlier would have reduced it.
5. Forgetting the overseas obligation. A HELP, VSL or AASL debt still has to be reported from abroad, and the travel notification is due within 7 days of leaving.

Related Calculators and Guides

• Graduate salary Australia — starting pay in six professions, with take-home and the repayment at each.
• Tax file number declaration — where you tell your employer about the loan so STSL is withheld.
• STSL on your payslip — how the withholding is worked out each pay.
• Extra super vs HECS repayment — where a spare dollar does more work.
• Take-home pay calculator — net pay with or without a study loan.
• Income tax calculator — brackets and your marginal rate.

Frequently Asked Questions