Editorial Policy
This policy explains how AusTax Tools prepares, reviews, and updates calculators and informational content.
Scope
We publish educational tax content for Australia. It is general information, not personal financial or tax advice.
Source standards
We prioritise primary and official sources, including:
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO) pages and schedules
- Australian legislation references (for example ITAA 1997 sections)
- State and territory revenue office guidance
- Official government announcements for policy updates
Calculator methodology
- Formula logic is encoded directly in site source files and version controlled.
- Assumptions are documented on calculator pages where possible.
- Rates and thresholds are updated when published settings change.
Review cadence
Reviews follow the Australian tax calendar rather than an arbitrary schedule:
- 1 July (financial-year start) — every FY-indexed rate and threshold (income tax brackets, Medicare levy surcharge tiers, super caps, HELP repayment thresholds, LITO) rolls to the new financial year.
- Budget night — announced changes are applied once confirmed. Budget 2026-27 rate and threshold changes were live on the site the same night they were handed down.
- Quarterly — the ATO's General Interest Charge (GIC) and Shortfall Interest Charge (SIC) rates are re-checked against the ATO's published quarterly tables.
- Event-driven — legislative changes (for example superannuation guarantee rate steps or indexed Centrelink payment rates) are applied when they take effect, not at the next scheduled pass.
In July 2026 we additionally completed a full-site accuracy review: every calculator, reference page, and article was re-checked against primary sources.
By the numbers
AusTax Tools currently runs 220+ calculators and tools across roughly 1,700 pages, backed by an
automated test suite of over 4,600 tests — including anchor tests pinned to published ATO
figures that fail loudly if a rate changes unexpectedly. Every build also checks internal links
sitewide before it deploys, and tax rates and thresholds are defined once in a centralized
tax-year configuration (src/data/taxYears/), so a single verified update flows
through every calculator and page that uses the figure.
Content review workflow
- New pages are checked for factual consistency against cited source material.
- Pages include a publication date and are updated when material rules change.
- Time-sensitive content is reviewed and revised with new effective dates.
Corrections policy
If a factual issue is reported, we review it against the underlying official source and update the page and its review timestamp where needed. Every page shows a “Last updated” date, generated from the page's revision history, falling back to the build date where no history is available.
Independence and advertising
The site may display ads. Advertising does not change the calculation formulas used in tools or the factual standards for editorial content.
Related policies
Last updated: July 2026