Salary Packaging Calculator for Doctors & Nurses
If you work for a public hospital or an eligible not-for-profit, salary packaging is a real pay rise — but the headline "tax saving" isn't what lands in your pocket. This tool subtracts the packaging fee and the HELP repayment add-back that most calculators leave out, so you see the true annual benefit.
Your benefit
Net annual benefit
—
after fee & HELP add-back
Tax + Medicare saved
—
on what you package
Extra HELP
—
from the add-back
| Per year | Without packaging | With packaging | Difference |
|---|
"In your pocket" counts the packaged money as reaching you (it pays your bills pre-tax), so the difference is the genuine gain. FY2026–27 resident rates, 2% Medicare levy, and the 2026–27 HELP thresholds — the same figures as our take-home calculator.
How the HELP add-back works
When you package, say, $9,010 in a public hospital, two things happen to your HELP repayment income, and they don't cancel out:
- Your taxable income falls by $9,010 — the cash you sacrificed is no longer taxed.
- But a reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA) is added back, and it's the grossed-up value: $9,010 × 1.8868 ≈ $17,000. Benefits from FBT-exempt employers are still reportable.
The net move in your HELP repayment income is therefore up by about $9,010 × 0.8868 ≈ $7,990, not down. If you carry a HELP debt, your compulsory repayment rises — sometimes enough to swallow a third of the tax saving. Packaging can still be worth it, but the figure that matters is what's left after that, which is what the tool shows.
What this tool assumes (read before trusting it)
- FBT-exempt caps, current FBT year. $9,010 general cap for public hospitals/ambulance (grossed-up $17,000); $15,900 for PBIs and health-promotion charities (grossed-up $30,000); a separate $2,650 meal-entertainment cap (grossed-up $5,000). These are set per FBT year (1 April–31 March) and have been stable for years.
- You actually spend the packaged amount. Packaging only helps for money you'd spend anyway (mortgage, rent, living costs). Packaging more than your genuine expenses isn't possible — the benefit has to be substantiated.
- The $9,010 / $15,900 cash figures assume GST-free packaging — mortgage, rent, personal loans, most everyday bills. Packaging GST-bearing purchases fills the grossed-up cap a little faster, so the tax-free cash amount is slightly lower; most clinicians package rent or a mortgage and get the full figure.
- Tax, Medicare and HELP only. The RFBA is also added back for the Medicare levy surcharge, Division 293 super tax and Family Tax Benefit. If your income sits near one of those thresholds, packaging can trip it — this tool flags the idea but doesn't compute those.
- Flat 2% Medicare levy (correct above the low-income threshold, where clinicians sit) and resident tax rates. It doesn't model the Medicare levy reduction, the low-income offset, or non-resident rates.
- One employer. The caps are per employer, so a second eligible job can add a second cap — not modelled here. Novated car leases sit under a different (concessional, not exempt) treatment and aren't included.
FAQ
Does salary packaging affect my HECS/HELP repayments?
Yes — it usually pushes them up, not down. Compulsory HELP repayments are based on repayment income, which adds your reportable fringe benefits amount (RFBA) back on top of your taxable income. Packaging lowers your taxable income by the cash you sacrifice but the RFBA is the grossed-up value (your cash amount times 1.8868), so at the $9,010 public-hospital cap your repayment income moves up by about $7,990 overall. If you have a HELP debt, that raises the compulsory repayment and eats into the tax saving, which is exactly what this calculator subtracts.
How much can I salary package in a public hospital?
Public hospitals and public ambulance services are FBT-exempt under section 57A, so you can package up to $9,010 of everyday expenses each FBT year (that is a grossed-up taxable value of $17,000) plus a separate meal-entertainment and venue-hire cap of $2,650 (grossed-up $5,000). Not-for-profit health-promotion charities and public benevolent institutions have a higher general cap of $15,900 (grossed-up $30,000). The caps are per employer, so working across two eligible employers does not automatically double them.
Is the tax saving just my marginal rate times what I package?
Almost. Packaging removes that amount from your taxable income, so you save your marginal tax rate plus the 2% Medicare levy on it. From that, subtract the packaging provider's administration fee, and subtract any extra HELP repayment the add-back triggers if you have a study debt. This calculator does all four steps, so the headline figure is the net benefit rather than the gross tax saving.
Could packaging push me over the Medicare levy surcharge or Division 293 threshold?
It can. The reportable fringe benefits amount is added back for several income tests, not just HELP — the Medicare levy surcharge (if you do not hold private hospital cover), Division 293 extra super tax, and Family Tax Benefit all use an income figure that includes it. This tool models the tax, Medicare levy and HELP effects but does not model those threshold tests, so if your income is near one of them, check it separately before deciding.
Sources & methodology
- ATO — reportable fringe benefits (grossed-up value; s57A benefits are still reportable) and FBT exemptions & concessions (the $17,000 / $30,000 grossed-up caps).
- ATO — study & training support loans (repayment-income definition and 2026–27 thresholds) and 2026–27 resident tax rates.
- Estimates, not advice. For how packaging works step by step, see our guides — salary packaging for doctors and for nurses — and pair this with the HECS payoff calculator and the take-home pay calculator.
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