SA payroll tax calculator
Estimate payroll tax in South Australia for 2025-26 or 2026-27 for an employer that paid wages all year, from its SA wages and its Australian wages.
- 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 South Australia
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
Nothing is payable in South Australia while the employer's wages nationally stay at or under the threshold. Above it, only the wages paid in SA attract the tax.
The rate doesn't start at full strength. Between the threshold and the full-rate point in the table below it phases in, rising steadily with Australian wages from nil at the threshold to the full rate at that point, and the rate reached applies to all the taxable wages. Above the full-rate point the full rate applies.
The deduction is separate from the threshold: a fixed maximum amount, smaller than the threshold, shared by the SA wages as a fraction of the Australian wages. The calculator subtracts it from the SA wages and charges the rate on the remainder.
The threshold, deduction, full-rate point and rate are RevenueSA's published figures under the Payroll Tax Act 2009 (SA).
Thresholds and rates
| Setting | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| Australian wages above which payroll tax is payable | $1,500,000 | $1,500,000 |
| Maximum annual deduction | $600,000 | $600,000 |
| Australian wages above which the full rate applies (the rate rises from nil above the threshold) | $1,700,000 | $1,700,000 |
| Rate | 4.95% | 4.95% |
RevenueSA (Government of South Australia), Payroll tax rates and thresholds Checked 15 Oct 2026.
What the result assumes
- The employer paid wages for the entire financial year and is not part of any payroll tax group.
- Because wages ran all year, the annualised wages South Australia uses to set the rate equal the Australian wages entered.
- Both inputs are taxable wages net of exempt wages, and the Australian figure takes in the SA figure.
- It doesn't rule on which payments are taxable wages or where they're taxed.
- The phased-in rate is used in full, not shortened the way RevenueSA's guide does in its examples, so results can differ slightly from them.
- The answer is one year's payroll tax, settled at the annual reconciliation, not an instalment for any month.
Sources
- Payroll tax rates and thresholds
RevenueSA (Government of South Australia). Rates from 1 January 2019, deduction from 1 July 2009, released 8 July 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.
© Government of South Australia, licensed under CC BY 3.0 AU Licence: CC BY 3.0 AU.
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 is the tax small just above the threshold?
Is the deduction the same as the threshold?
Does the tax jump at the full-rate point?
Can it work out tax for part of a year?
General information