ACT payroll tax calculator
In the ACT, the rate depends on how much an employer pays across the whole country. Enter its ACT wages and its national total to see which rate applies and the tax owed for the year.
- By Book Keeping Pros
- Sources checked 15 Oct 2026
Work out the payroll tax
Choose the financial year and enter the wages. The result updates as you type.
For the whole year, in whole dollars
Including the wages paid in Australian Capital Territory
General information only. It works out an estimate from the wages you enter and doesn't take your circumstances into account.
Payroll tax for 2026-27
Enter both wages
Show working
Enter both wages to see the working.
How it works
ACT payroll tax becomes payable once an employer's Australian wages for the year are more than the ACT threshold, and it falls only on wages paid in the territory. The deduction is that threshold scaled down to the ACT's portion of the Australian wages.
The unusual part is how the rate is picked. The employer's Australian wages place it in a band, and that band's single rate is charged on all of its ACT taxable wages. Moving up into a higher band lifts the rate on the whole amount, not just on the wages past the band's edge.
In 2025-26 the rate is a base rate plus a surcharge that is nil below the first surcharge level in the table and rises in steps above it. From 2026-27 the threshold is lower and the surcharge is folded into a series of rates, each tied to a band of Australian wages.
Each year's threshold and rates come from that year's payroll tax determination, read with the Payroll Tax Act 2011, and are set out in the table below.
Thresholds and rates
| Setting | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| Annual threshold | $2,000,000 | $1,750,000 |
| Rate | 6.85% | Not applicable |
| Surcharge applies when total wages are more than | $50,000,000 | Not applicable |
| Surcharge rate above that amount | 0.5% | Not applicable |
| Higher surcharge applies when total wages are more than | $100,000,000 | Not applicable |
| Higher surcharge rate | 1% | Not applicable |
| Total wages above which 2025-26 is taxed in two halves | $150,000,000 | Not applicable |
| Rate for the second half of the split year | 8.75% | Not applicable |
| Rate when total wages are not more than the first band's top | Not applicable | 6.75% |
| Top of the first band | Not applicable | $20,000,000 |
| Rate when total wages are not more than the second band's top | Not applicable | 6.85% |
| Top of the second band | Not applicable | $50,000,000 |
| Rate when total wages are not more than the third band's top | Not applicable | 7.35% |
| Top of the third band | Not applicable | $100,000,000 |
| Rate when total wages are not more than the fourth band's top | Not applicable | 7.85% |
| Top of the fourth band | Not applicable | $150,000,000 |
| Rate when total wages are more than the fourth band's top | Not applicable | 8.75% |
ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office, Taxation Administration (Amounts and Rates-Payroll Tax) Determination 2025 (ACT), DI2025-161; ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office, Payroll Tax Act 2011 (ACT), Republication No 20; ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office, Taxation Administration (Amounts and Rates-Payroll Tax) Determination 2026 (ACT), DI2026-151 Checked 15 Oct 2026.
What the result assumes
- The employer had wages in Australia on each day of the year and is not grouped with another business for payroll tax.
- The ACT and Australian amounts typed in are taxable wages only, exempt amounts excluded, with the ACT wages forming part of the Australian figure.
- It gives the amount owed for the full year and doesn't estimate any monthly instalment.
- For 2025-26, an employer whose Australian wages are above the split-year limit in the table is taxed in two halves of the year, which the calculator doesn't work out.
- Australian wages exactly at the split-year limit still take the single 2025-26 rate, because the two-halves rule applies only to wages above it.
- It doesn't apply the separate rates for eligible universities or decide which payments count as taxable wages.
Sources
- Taxation Administration (Amounts and Rates-Payroll Tax) Determination 2025 (ACT), DI2025-161
ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office. 2025-26, released 30 June 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.
© ACT Government, ACT Legislation Register Licence: ACT Legislation Register copyright policy: copyright, ACT Government.
- Payroll Tax Act 2011 (ACT), Republication No 20
ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Republication No 20, effective 26 December 2025, released 26 December 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.
© ACT Government, ACT Legislation Register Licence: ACT Legislation Register copyright policy: copyright, ACT Government.
- Taxation Administration (Amounts and Rates-Payroll Tax) Determination 2026 (ACT), DI2026-151
ACT Parliamentary Counsel's Office. From 1 July 2026, released 30 June 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.
© ACT Government, ACT Legislation Register Licence: ACT Legislation Register copyright policy: copyright, ACT Government.
Bookkeeping
Books kept up to date, every month
We record every transaction and reconcile every account, so the figures in your accounting software match your bank.
Questions about this calculator
Something else on your mind? Ask us directly.
Why does the ACT rate depend on wages paid outside the territory?
How did the ACT rules change for 2026-27?
What if Australian wages land right on the top of a band?
Can it work out 2025-26 for an employer above the split-year limit?
General information