Does hospital cover cost less than the surcharge?
Answer five questions to see the surcharge, rebate, working and source.
Questions people actually ask
Answered against the published rules, and dated.
On the whole income. This is the difference that catches people out: income tax is charged in slices, so only the part above a bracket is taxed at the higher rate. The surcharge is not. Once your income for surcharge purposes crosses a threshold, the rate applies to every dollar you earned — which is why crossing a threshold by one dollar can cost more than a thousand.
Taxable income, plus reportable fringe benefits, plus super you salary-sacrificed, plus net investment losses, plus any exempt foreign employment income. It is a wider figure than taxable income, and it is the reason people who think they are under a threshold sometimes are not.
No. Reportable employer super contributions are added back when the surcharge is worked out, so sacrificing into super does not reduce income for surcharge purposes. It reduces taxable income, which is a different figure.
It depends on whether you are entitled to Medicare. If you are not — most temporary visa holders on a non-RHCA passport are not — the surcharge does not apply to you at all, and neither does the Medicare levy. Your obligation is a different product entirely, overseas visitor health cover under visa condition 8501.
No. It must be hospital cover rather than extras, held with a registered Australian insurer, with an excess at or under the published limit, and everyone in the household has to be covered. A policy that fails any one of those leaves the surcharge payable in full.