Medicare Levy Details, Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) and Private Health Insurance rebate (PHIR)
Not available in Accountants Office
The Medicare Levy table contains the income thresholds and shading-out ranges for single and married taxpayers and Australian Government Pension recipients for the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge.
Levy rates
Standard Levy Rate: This is the standard Medicare levy payable by all taxpayers who are residents of Australia.
Shading Levy Rate: This is the shading-out rate that applies to taxpayers who have income in excess of the threshold.
Surcharge Rate
Additional Levy Rate: This is the additional Medicare levy surcharge levied on all Australian resident taxpayers who earn a taxable income above the applicable surcharge income threshold and do not have sufficient private hospital insurance.
Lower limit: This is the threshold of taxable income below which a taxpayer is exempt from the Medicare levy.
Upper limit: If a taxpayer's taxable income falls within the lower limit (defined in the previous field) and the upper limit, the levy is shaded-in at the rate defined in the Shading Levy rate field for the excess amount over the lower limit.
The lower and upper limits are provided for all single and married taxpayers.
Family Children
Upper and Lower increments: If there are more than 6 dependent children or students, for each additional dependent child or student the lower limit increases by the lower increment and the upper limit increases by the upper increment.
Surcharge income thresholds
The Medicare levy surcharge is based on a three tier system with the maximum rate for those without sufficient private health cover being 1.5% based on their Adjusted taxable income or Combined adjusted taxable income for these purposes.
Single: Income earners without adequate private patient hospital insurance are liable to an additional levy surcharge. This is the level of notional taxable income above which an unmarried taxpayer with no dependants incurs the additional Medicare levy rate.
Married/Family: Families without adequate private patient hospital insurance are liable to an additional levy surcharge. This is the level of notional income above which the combined taxable income for a family with no dependant's incurs the additional Medicare levy rate.
Extra child increment: Families who are liable to an additional levy surcharge on the basis of their combined taxable income are entitled to increment the surcharge income threshold according to the number of dependent children. This is the amount by which the surcharge income threshold is increased for each dependent child after the first.
Private Health Insurance Cover Details
This table contains the minimum Health Fund premiums payable in order to be sufficiently covered for Medicare Levy Surcharge purposes:
Single and Family Income Ceilings
Dependant Definition
Minimum Premiums payable table
Dependant Definition
A Dependant needs to be an Australian resident for tax purposes. For a spouse, student or child only, they will be treated as a resident if they have always lived in Australia or they came to live in Australia permanently, unless they have set up a permanent home outside Australia.
Additionally, the dependant would have to be:
Maintained by the taxpayer, and
Under 21 years and not a student, or
A full-time student under 25 years.