Second Job Tax Calculator — Updated for 2026–2027
Second Job Tax Calculator: Take-Home and Your Tax-Time Bill
See what two jobs withhold against the tax on your combined income.
Your two jobs
Main job
Usually the job that pays the most.
Before tax, as shown on your payslip.
Pay cycle
Second job
The extra job. Enter 0 to see your main job on its own.
Before tax, as shown on your payslip.
Pay cycle
Your year
Shared by both jobs: the ATO assesses one income for the whole year.
Second Job Tax Estimate
Estimated to pay at tax time
$2,524.00
$15,132.00 withheld against $17,656.00 assessed
$14,104.00 a year kept from the second job after tax
Based on $2,500.00 fortnightly and $400.00 weekly for a full year
- Second job after tax
- $14,104.00
- Withheld by both
- $15,132.00
- Tax assessed
- $17,656.00
- Main job paid to you
- $2,062.00
- Second job paid to you
- $328.00
- Setting aside about $49 from each second-job pay would cover the estimated amount. You can also ask an employer to withhold more with a withholding variation.
Payslips and the year's tax
Withholding per pay and one combined assessment at the 2026-27 rules
Each payslip
| Item | Main job | Second job |
|---|---|---|
| Pay cycle | Fortnightly | Weekly |
| Tax-free threshold claimed | Yes | No |
| Gross per pay | $2,500.00 | $400.00 |
| Tax withheld per pay | $438.00 | $72.00 |
| Paid to you per pay | $2,062.00 | $328.00 |
| Pays in the year | 26 | 52 |
| Gross for the year | $65,000.00 | $20,800.00 |
| Withheld for the year | $11,388.00 | $3,744.00 |
The year's assessment
| Item | Main job only | Both jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | $65,000.00 | $85,800.00 |
| Deductions (incl. standard deduction) | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 |
| Taxable income | $64,000.00 | $84,800.00 |
| Income tax after offsets | $9,680.00 | $15,960.00 |
| Medicare levy | $1,280.00 | $1,696.00 |
| Total assessed | $10,960.00 | $17,656.00 |
| Withheld by employers | $11,388.00 | $15,132.00 |
| Estimated refund (+) or to pay (−) | $428.00 | -$2,524.00 |
What this estimate covers
Read before relying on the figures
- Two jobs held for the whole 2026-27 year at the pay entered, with 52 weekly, 26 fortnightly or 12 monthly pays. Some years have a 53rd weekly or 27th fortnightly payday, which withholds one more pay.
- The result is an estimate of your tax-time outcome, not an ATO notice of assessment or a debt. Your actual payslips and return decide it.
- Not modelled: business or investment income, starting or leaving a job part-way through the year, foreign income, non-residents, Medicare levy exemptions, seniors offsets, salary sacrifice, reportable benefits, and hospital cover for only part of the year or only some of the family. Use the tax return calculator for those.
What's next
Reviewed by Ashma Ghimire, ASA, CPA AustraliaLast reviewed 26 October 2026
No higher rate on a second job, just different withholding
A second job is not taxed at a special rate. The ATO adds both jobs together and taxes your income for the year once. The surprise comes from withholding: each employer works out tax on its own pay as if it were your only job, so the amounts on your two payslips rarely add up to the tax you actually owe.
The calculator does both sides. It works out each employer's withholding from the ATO withholding scales, using the pay cycle and tax-free threshold choice you give each employer. It then assesses your combined income once: income tax with the tax-free threshold and low income tax offset applied once, the Medicare levy, any Medicare levy surcharge and any HELP repayment. The gap between the two is your estimated refund or amount to pay. It also runs the same year with your main job only, so you can see what the second job really adds to your tax and what it leaves you.
To check a single payslip against the ATO tables, use the tax withheld calculator. If you also have investment or business income, or changed jobs during the year, the tax return calculator takes your total tax withheld from your payslips instead. The tax refund guide explains how withholding turns into a refund or a bill, and the income tax guide covers the brackets and the tax-free threshold.
Use this calculator when
- You hold two jobs for the whole year and want to know what the second one really adds after tax.
- You are deciding which employer to claim the tax-free threshold from.
- You want to know whether two jobs will leave you with a bill at tax time.
- You have a HELP debt or no private hospital cover and your combined income is near a threshold.
The same two jobs, three tax-free threshold choices (2026-27)
| Threshold claimed from | Withheld in the year | Tax assessed | At tax time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main employer only (ATO's usual advice) | $15,132 | $17,656 | $2,524 to pay |
| Both employers | $11,700 | $17,656 | $5,956 to pay |
| Neither employer | $20,852 | $17,656 | $3,196 refund |
A main job of $2,500 a fortnight and a second job of $400 a week for the whole 2026-27 year, with no other income, HELP or hospital cover, after the $1,000 standard work deduction. The tax assessed is the same in every row; only the withholding changes. Enter your own pay in the calculator above.
Sources: ATO — Multiple jobs or change of job · ATO — Schedule 1 statement of formulas · ATO — Compulsory study loan repayments · ATO — Withholding declaration · ATO — Why you may receive a tax bill · ATO — Varying your PAYG withholding
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you pay more tax on a second job?
No. There is no separate or higher tax rate for a second job. The ATO adds the pay from every job together and taxes your total income for the year at the normal resident rates, with the tax-free threshold, the low income tax offset and the Medicare levy applied once. What differs is withholding. Each employer works out tax on its own pay as if it were your only job, and an employer that does not apply the tax-free threshold withholds from the first dollar you earn there. That extra is a payment towards your annual bill, not a higher rate: any excess comes back when you lodge your return, and any shortfall is a bill. Enter both jobs above to see which way yours falls.
Should I claim the tax-free threshold on my second job?
Usually not. The ATO says that when you have more than one payer at the same time you generally claim the tax-free threshold from one payer only, usually the one that pays the most. You make that choice on the tax file number declaration you give each new employer, and you can change it later with a withholding declaration. The exception is when your total income from all jobs for the year will be $18,200 or less: then you can claim it from each payer. If you claim it from two employers while your combined income is higher, each one stops withholding on the first part of your pay and the gap usually shows up as a bill at tax time. Tick or untick the threshold on each job in the calculator to compare.
How much tax do you pay on a second job? A worked example
The tax on a second job is the difference between the tax on your combined income and the tax on your main job alone; what the second employer withholds is only an advance towards it. Take a main job paying $2,500 a fortnight with the tax-free threshold claimed, and a second job paying $400 a week without it, for the whole 2026-27 year. The second employer withholds $72 a week, and both employers withhold $15,132 across the year. Tax on the combined $85,800 ($84,800 taxable after deductions) is $17,656.00 including the Medicare levy, so the estimate is about $2,524 to pay. The second job adds $6,696 of tax and leaves $14,104 of its $20,800 after tax.
How much can I earn before I pay tax?
The tax-free threshold is $18,200 a year for residents, and it applies to your total income from all jobs together, not to each job. Two jobs that are each under the threshold can still add up to taxable income. The low income tax offset reduces the tax on lower incomes, so in practice income tax starts a little above the threshold, and the Medicare levy has its own low-income threshold. Withholding does not know any of this about your other job: a second employer without the threshold withholds from the first dollar, which is why a small second job on a low total income often produces a refund. The calculator applies the threshold, the offset and the levy once, to your combined income.
Why do I owe tax when both of my employers withhold tax?
Each employer withholds as if its job were your only income, so neither accounts for the other. There are four common causes of a bill. The first is claiming the tax-free threshold from both employers. The second is combined income that pushes part of your pay into a higher tax bracket than either employer's withholding assumes. The third is a HELP repayment that only applies once both jobs are added together. The fourth is the Medicare levy surcharge if you have no private hospital cover, which employers don't withhold for unless you ask them to with a Medicare levy variation declaration. The calculator shows each of these on its own line, so you can see which one applies to you.
How does HELP work with two jobs?
Tell every employer about your study or training loan on your tax file number or withholding declaration. Each one then adds a study-loan amount to the tax it withholds, worked out on that job's pay alone. Your compulsory repayment for the year is worked out once, on your combined repayment income, so it can be more than the two employers withheld when each job on its own is under the repayment threshold but together they are over it. There is one exception the ATO sets out: if you have a spouse or dependants and a low family income reduces or removes your Medicare levy, no compulsory repayment applies for that year, and the study-loan amounts withheld come back at tax time.
How can I avoid a tax bill from a second job?
Claim the tax-free threshold from your main employer only, tell both employers about any study loan, and check your combined income against the Medicare levy surcharge thresholds if you have no private hospital cover. If you have already claimed the threshold from both employers, give the second one a new withholding declaration to stop claiming it. If the calculator still shows an amount to pay, you can set aside part of each second-job pay, or ask one employer to withhold more through a PAYG withholding variation. If you are being over-withheld and are certain of your income, a variation can reduce withholding instead.
What does this calculator leave out?
It covers two jobs held as a resident employee for the whole financial year. It does not model business or investment income, starting or leaving a job part-way through the year, foreign income, non-residents, Medicare levy exemptions, the seniors and pensioners tax offset, salary sacrifice, reportable fringe benefits, or private hospital cover held for only part of the year or by only some of the family. It also assumes 52 weekly, 26 fortnightly or 12 monthly pays, so a year with a 53rd weekly or 27th fortnightly payday withholds one more pay than shown. For those situations use the tax return calculator, which takes your total tax withheld from your payslips instead of working it out per job.