How do I adjust tax for an employee? – Deputy Help Center

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Information provided by Deputy is intended for general guidance purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal or financial advice. Deputy does not accept liability for actions taken based on this information.
Employers are responsible for ensuring their employees are paid correctly in line with the applicable legislation, award/s, industrial instrument/s and relevant employment agreements.
For specific issues or if you are unsure about your employee/s’ entitlements, please consult a legal, financial or employment relations specialist. Deputy does not offer advice on employment law or taxation matters, including payroll specifics.

An employee may request an increase to the amount of tax to be withheld from their pay. There are many reasons why an employee might request this, including:

to make sure that the amount withheld during the income year meets their end-of-year tax liability
to cover an ATO debt
to pay additional amounts off their Study and Training Support Loan (STSL) debt
to cover the Medicare Levy Surcharge
where there are 53 weeks or 27 fortnights in the pay calendar year

Increasing the amount of tax withheld is managed in the employee profile. In the Payroll section, click Edit to the right of Payroll calculation.

Web template - 2025-05-29T080729.629.png

Select a tax calculation method:

If you use tax scale, it means that the tax rates will be applied based on the the ATO tax scale applicable to the employee.
Selecting a fixed tax percentage applies the same rate to all taxable income for the employee. If you select fixed tax percentage then you will need to nominate a rate. This is generally used where you have received a downward withholding variation from the ATO and need to apply it to the employees payments.

Specify additional tax.

The amount entered here represents the weekly equivalent of the additional tax the employee wishes to have withheld from their pay. This amount is adjusted based on the employee’s pay frequency:

Weekly Pay Calendar
The exact amount entered will be deducted in addition to the employee’s standard tax each pay run.
Example: Entering $10 results in $10 additional tax deducted each week.
Fortnightly Pay Calendar
The entered amount will be multiplied by 2, and the resulting amount will be deducted in addition to the employee’s standard tax each pay run.
Example: Entering $10 results in $20 additional tax deducted each fortnight.
Monthly Pay Calendar
The entered amount will be multiplied by 52 (weeks in a year), then divided by 12 (months in a year). The final amount, rounded to the nearest whole dollar, will be deducted in addition to the employee’s standard tax each pay run.
Example: Entering $10 results in $43 additional tax deducted each month.

Once you're done, click Save changes.

Web template - 2025-05-29T080950.240.png