Last reviewed: 13 September 2026
A payslip looks like a wall of numbers, but it's really just a short, standard list of parts. Once you know what each line means, checking it takes a minute.
This guide decodes the common lines on an Australian payslip and shows you how to check the totals against your own numbers with the take-home pay calculator.
The anatomy of a payslip
| Line on your payslip | What it means |
|---|---|
| Gross pay | Your pay before any tax or deductions come out. This is the amount your rate of pay and hours (or salary) add up to for the period. |
| PAYG withholding | Pay As You Go income tax, withheld by your employer and sent to the ATO on your behalf. Check the numbers with the income tax calculator. |
| Medicare levy | Usually bundled inside the PAYG withholding figure rather than shown as its own line. It’s part of the tax withheld, not an extra deduction on top. |
| Superannuation guarantee | Paid by your employer into your super fund on top of your wage. It is not taken out of your gross or net pay. Check it with the superannuation calculator. |
| Net pay / take-home | What actually lands in your bank account after PAYG withholding and any other deductions. Check it with the take-home pay calculator. |
| Year-to-date (YTD) totals | Running totals for the current financial year (1 July to 30 June), not just this pay period. Useful for checking against your annual figures. |
| Leave balances | Your accrued annual leave and personal (sick) leave, usually shown in hours or days. |
| Allowances | Extra amounts for specific things, such as travel, tools or a uniform, paid alongside your regular wage. |
| Salary sacrifice / deductions | Amounts you’ve arranged to have paid before or after tax, such as extra super contributions, a novated lease or union fees. |
| Tax file number (TFN) | Your tax file number, or its status, used by your employer to withhold tax at the right rate. |
Gross vs net: where your money goes
Super is paid on top, not taken out
Superannuation guarantee contributions are an extra amount your employer pays into your super fund. They don't reduce your gross pay or your net pay. Use the superannuation calculator to check what should be going in for a given period.
Three lines people get wrong
Common mix-ups, cleared up
- Super isn't deducted from your take-home pay. It's a separate, additional payment your employer makes into your fund, so you won't see it subtracted from gross pay to reach net pay.
- The Medicare levy usually isn't its own line. It's typically already folded into the PAYG withholding amount, so a payslip without a separate "Medicare" line hasn't skipped it.
- Year-to-date figures cover the whole financial year, not this pay period. If a YTD total looks much bigger than a single pay's amount, that's expected: it's adding up every pay since 1 July.
Check your own numbers
The easiest way to make sense of a payslip is to run your own figures through the calculators and compare:
- Use the take-home pay calculator to check your net pay against your gross pay and pay frequency.
- Use the income tax calculator to check the PAYG withholding amount, including the Medicare levy.
- Use the superannuation calculator to check the super guarantee amount your employer should be contributing.
If your numbers are close to what the calculators show, your payslip is doing what it should. Small differences can come from allowances, salary sacrifice arrangements or a mid-year change to your tax-free threshold setting.
If something looks wrong
If a figure on your payslip doesn’t match what you expect:
- Re-run the numbers through the calculators above, checking that you’ve used the same gross pay and pay frequency as your employer.
- Check with your employer whether your tax file number and tax-free threshold claim are set up correctly, since this affects how much PAYG is withheld.
- If a discrepancy doesn’t resolve, the ATO handles tax and superannuation queries, and Fair Work Australia handles pay and employment condition disputes. Both are the right first point of contact before taking anything further.
This is general information, not personal advice
This guide explains what payslip lines generally mean. It isn't personal tax, super or employment advice, and rates, thresholds and rules can change. Check the current details on the ATO website or with a registered tax agent for your own situation.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates only and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures are general in nature and may not reflect your circumstances. Verify against official sources or a qualified adviser before making decisions.