HELP repayments on your 2025–26 return aren't a % of everything anymore

You've probably been budgeting as if you'll pay about 3–4% of everything you earn to HELP this year. That was the old system. On the 2025–26 return you're lodging now, compulsory repayments for study and training loans (including HELP/HECS) are calculated only on repayment income above the threshold — not as a single percentage of the lot.

What actually changed

From 1 July 2025 the ATO moved compulsory repayments onto marginal rates. This is the first income year under those rules, so it is the first notice of assessment that uses them.

You do not fill in a HELP schedule. If you have a study or training loan when you lodge, and your repayment income is over the minimum, the ATO works out the compulsory repayment and puts it on your notice of assessment. The same thresholds cover HELP, VET Student Loans (VSL), the Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS), Student Start-up Loans (SSL), ABSTUDY SSL, and Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans (AASL).

2025–26 thresholds

These are the figures the ATO will use on the return you are lodging now.

Repayment income	Compulsory repayment
$0 – $67,000	Nil
$67,001 – $125,000	15c for each $1 over $67,000
$125,001 – $179,285	$8,700 plus 17c for each $1 over $125,000
$179,286 and over	10% of your total repayment income

The first $67,000 is free of compulsory repayment in the middle bands, no matter how much you earn above it. The top band is the exception: from $179,286 it is 10% of all repayment income, not 10% of the slice.

Repayment income is not just your salary

The ATO does not use taxable income alone. Repayment income is:

• taxable income, excluding any assessable First Home Super Saver (FHSS) released amounts
• plus reportable fringe benefits
• plus total net investment loss (including net rental losses)
• plus reportable super contributions
• plus exempt foreign employment income

A salary under $67,000 can still sit over the line once those extras are added. That is why the income in the return — and the records behind it — matter for the HELP line as well as the tax line.

Grace at $80,000

The ATO's own example is Grace. She has a HELP debt, one employer, and $80,000 of repayment income in 2025–26.

	Old rules	This return
How it was worked out	3.5% of the whole $80,000	15% of the $13,000 above $67,000
Compulsory repayment	$2,800	$1,950

If her employer already switched to the updated withholding tables, less is coming out of each pay. If too much was withheld through the year, the extra can come back when the return is assessed — unless it is offset against other outstanding tax or Commonwealth debts.

Which band?

flowchart TD
  start[2025-26 repayment income] --> thresh{"Over $67,000?"}
  thresh -->|No| nil[Nil this return]
  thresh -->|Yes| band{Which band?}
  band -->|"$67,001 to $125,000"| mid["15c per $1 over $67,000"]
  band -->|"$125,001 to $179,285"| high["$8,700 plus 17c over $125,000"]
  band -->|"$179,286 and over"| flip["10% of total income"]

Stay under $67,000 and there is no compulsory repayment on this return. Above that, pick the band. Hit $179,286 and the method flips: it is a percentage of everything again.

Don't mix years

Payslips from 1 July 2026, and the ATO's current withholding tables, already use the 2026–27 floor of $69,528. That is next year's return, and this year's pay. The return you are lodging now is 2025–26, and the floor for that year is still $67,000.

So the notice isn't a shock

The HELP amount on your notice of assessment is calculated from the income in the return. Missed extras, incomplete records, or deductions you earned but can't substantiate all move that number. The useful habit is the same as every other line: write the year down as it happens, then lodge numbers that match the year you actually had.

This is general information, not tax advice. Check the ATO study and training loan pages or your agent for your own return.