Most sole traders find it hard to work out exactly how much tax they’ll need to pay. Most tax calculators are set up for permanent employees working PAYG jobs, and so aren’t accurate for sole traders, contractors and freelancers.
We decided to create our own tax calculator, specifically for sole traders, to help you calculate how much tax you’ll need to pay across the main tax types.
Ready to find out how much tax you’ll need to pay? Just use our simple tax calculator below to get the totals 👇
Key Taxes for the Self-Employed:
Income Tax
Any self-employed income you earn will need to have Income Tax paid on it. ATO calculate your income tax rate by summing the total of all your sources of income (including PAYG/Salary jobs, together with self-employed income, investment income etc) and then applying their standard tax rates. The income tax rates for PAYG earners and self-employed individuals are exactly the same.
GST
If you earn over $75,000 per financial year just from your self-employed income (i.e. not including any Salary/Permanent income) then ATO will require you to register for GST. When you are registered for GST, you will be required to charge your customers an additional 10% on top of the cost of your goods and services, and this 10% is payable to ATO whenever you file your GST returns. If you make business purchases, the GST on any business purchases will reduce the amount of the GST you’ve collected that will be payable to ATO. For more details on GST, check out our Guide to Contractor and Freelancer GST
Medicare
Any income you make from self-employment is also subject to the 2% Medicare levy. If you also earn income from PAYG/Salary work, then you will already be making Medicare contributions as part of your PAYG taxes, and therefore any Medicare on your self-employed income will be in addition to that.
Note that if you earn more than $90,000 per year and don’t have an appropriate level of private patient hospital cover, you may also be liable for the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS).
Student Loan
If you have an outstanding study or training loan (HELP, VSL, SFSS, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL, or TSL), and you are earning over the annual threshold of $46,620, then you will be required to make repayments on that loan. The repayment rate depends on your income, which includes any contracting and freelancing income, even if you also have a PAYG job at the same time.
How Hnry Helps
Hnry is a registered tax agent that can take the pain out of calculating your tax. We automatically deduct all relevant taxes with every invoice you’re paid, so you aren’t caught out with a massive tax bill come tax time, and we’ll even file your annual tax return for you at no additional cost.
Better still, using the Hnry platform costs less than using a traditional accountant, and is entirely tax deductible.
If that sounds good to you, join Hnry today and never think about tax again!
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