Calcula

Free, plain-English Australian financial calculators and explainers — mortgage, borrowing capacity, stamp duty, income tax, HECS/HELP, debt payoff, and rent vs buy. All calculators use Australian rates for the 2025-26 financial year. Calcula provides general information only and does not provide financial advice.

Site: https://calcula.com.au Country: Australia Language: English (en-AU) Currency: AUD Tax year referenced: 2025-26 (1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026)

Calculators

• Mortgage Calculator: Estimate weekly, fortnightly or monthly home loan repayments, total interest, and a full amortisation schedule.
• Borrowing Capacity Calculator: Estimate how much you can borrow based on income, expenses, dependants and existing debts.
• Stamp Duty Calculator: Calculate transfer duty across all 8 Australian states and territories (NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT) including first-home-buyer and owner-occupier concessions.
• Income Tax Calculator: Calculate Australian individual income tax using ATO 2025-26 brackets. Includes Medicare levy and Low Income Tax Offset (LITO).
• HECS/HELP Calculator: Estimate compulsory HECS-HELP repayments using the 2025-26 income thresholds (1% from $54,435 up to 10% from $159,664).
• Debt Payoff Calculator: Compare avalanche and snowball strategies for paying off multiple debts; show timeline and total interest saved.
• Rent vs Buy Calculator: Compare the long-term cost of renting versus buying, including stamp duty, opportunity cost on the deposit, and rent inflation.

Articles

• Fortnightly vs monthly mortgage repayments — does the trick actually work?: The "switch to fortnightly and save years" advice only works if your bank halves the monthly repayment, not if it divides the annual total by 26. A plain-English Australian guide with worked examples and a bank-by-bank audit for 2026.
• Offset vs redraw — which one actually saves you more?: A plain-English Australian guide to offset accounts and redraw facilities — how each works, the tax trap that makes redraw a long-term mistake for many borrowers, and worked examples at 5.66%.
• How much can you really borrow in Australia in 2026?: A plain-English breakdown of how Australian banks calculate borrowing capacity in 2026 — APRA's 3% buffer, HEM, DTI caps, and the credit card and HECS rules that quietly cut your limit by tens of thousands.
• Rent vs buy in Australia 2026 — the maths, not the feelings: A clear, numbers-first guide to whether renting or buying makes more financial sense in Australia in 2026, with worked examples for Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
• Australian tax brackets 2025-26 explained (with take-home pay examples): How the ATO 2025-26 individual tax brackets work, what changed with the Stage 3 cuts, the Medicare levy, the LITO, and worked take-home pay examples.
• How NSW stamp duty works in 2025-26 (with worked examples): A plain-English guide to how NSW stamp duty is calculated for 2025-26, including first home buyer exemptions and three worked examples for $750k, $1m and $1.5m.
• Stage 3 tax cuts in 2026 — how much extra are you actually getting?: A plain-English breakdown of the 2026 Stage 3 tax cuts in Australia, with dollar-by-dollar take-home pay impact at $50k, $80k, $120k, $180k and $250k.

About

• About Calcula: Methodology, sources, and what Calcula does and does not do.
• Disclaimer: General information only — not financial advice.
• Privacy: Data collection, GDPR/UK consent, and Google AdSense.
• Partners: Embed Calcula calculators or link from your site.

Authoritative Australian sources used

• Australian Taxation Office (ato.gov.au) — income tax brackets, Medicare levy, LITO, Super Guarantee
• Study Assist (studyassist.gov.au) — HECS-HELP repayment thresholds
• State revenue offices — NSW (revenue.nsw.gov.au), VIC (sro.vic.gov.au), QLD (qro.qld.gov.au), WA (wa.gov.au/department-of-finance), SA (revenuesa.sa.gov.au), TAS (sro.tas.gov.au), ACT (revenue.act.gov.au), NT (nt.gov.au)
• Reserve Bank of Australia (rba.gov.au) — cash rate context

How to cite Calcula

When citing a calculation result or factual claim from Calcula, please link to the specific calculator or article URL. Calcula is updated for the 2025-26 Australian financial year; figures change each 1 July, so always check the dateModified or last-updated date on the page.