Calculated, not guessed.
Every number Meridian shows comes from published rules applied to your own data. Give it the same inputs and you get the same answer, every time.
What “no AI” means.
No AI, machine learning or chatbot
Meridian has no AI, machine learning or chatbot. Every figure comes from published rules applied to your own data, so the same inputs always give the same answer.
Your data stays out of AI
Your financial data is never sent to an AI provider or used to train a model.
Every result traces back
Every result traces back to a rule, a rate and your own numbers. You can change any category Meridian assigns.
The rules inside Meridian. The tax and super rules below come from the ATO, and the sources link to it.
| Area | What Meridian applies (2026–27) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | Resident rates: 0% up to $18,200, then 15%, 30%, 37% and 45% | ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents |
| Medicare levy | 2% levy with its low-income reduction; Medicare Levy Surcharge tiers by hospital cover | ATO: Medicare levy thresholds and rates |
| Super Guarantee | 12% of ordinary time earnings | ATO: Super guarantee percentage |
| Super caps | $30,000 concessional cap; Division 293 threshold check | ATO: Contributions caps |
| HECS-HELP | Compulsory repayment thresholds and indexation | ATO: Study and training loan thresholds |
| Mortgage offset | Standard loan maths using your rate, balance and offset balances | Your own loan details |
Every calculation engine in Meridian. Each one is built and tested to follow the Australian rules that apply to it, and none uses AI.
| Engine | What Meridian calculates | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Share sales and CGT | The capital gain or loss on each sale, and the tax it adds to your year | Sales are matched to your purchase parcels by first-in-first-out, highest-cost, lowest-tax or a parcel you choose. The 50% discount applies only to parcels held at least 12 months, and losses are never discounted. |
| Proposed CGT change | A preview of the proposed 1 July 2027 move from the 50% discount to cost-base indexation | Shown as a scenario so you can see how timing a sale could change the result. It is a proposal, not current law. |
| Franking credits | Grossed-up dividends, franking credits and the tax refund or top-up they produce | Uses the 30% and 25% company tax rates, the 45-day holding rule and the small shareholder exemption, and compares how a dividend is taxed in each partner’s hands. |
| Share prices | Current value and gain for ASX, NASDAQ and NYSE holdings | Prices and AUD/USD rates are refreshed through Meridian’s relay. Meridian knows each exchange’s trading hours and flags prices that are out of date. |
| Investment property sale | Capital gain, CGT per owner and net cash after the sale | Cost base includes purchase and selling costs and improvements, less depreciation claimed. Each owner’s CGT is the extra tax on their own income, so it picks up bracket, Medicare surcharge and HECS effects. |
| Rental income | Gross rental yield, capital growth and equity | Rent at any frequency is converted to an annual figure. Equity, loan-to-value ratio and usable equity come from your property and loan details. |
| Mortgage and offset | Repayments, interest saved by offset accounts, and the date your loan could be paid off | Principal-and-interest and interest-only repayments, split loans, extra repayments and cash rate changes, simulated month by month. |
| Offset versus investing | Whether spare cash is worth more in an offset account or invested | Compares interest saved on the loan with investment growth after dividend tax and the CGT discount at your marginal rate. |
| Buying a home | Stamp duty, lenders mortgage insurance, borrowing power and the deposit you need | Stamp duty rules for each state and territory, including first home buyer concessions, and a serviceability check with a 3% interest rate buffer. |
| Other loans | Repayments, balances, interest remaining and payoff dates for car, personal and student loans | Repayment schedules at any frequency, with optional balloon payments, rolled up across your household. |
| Retirement projection | Your net worth, super and income from today to age 100 | Super growth with the Super Guarantee, the concessional cap and its carry-forward, the 15% contributions tax and Division 293, then the move to a tax-free pension phase up to the transfer balance cap. |
| Retirement range | A range of outcomes and the chance your money lasts to 85, 90, 95 and 100 | Runs 1,000 simulated market paths, so the range can move slightly between runs. Your central projection does not change. |
| Age Pension | The Age Pension you may receive from age 67 | Applies the assets test and the income test with standard deeming, and uses whichever gives the lower payment. |
| Super incentives | Eligibility and value of the co-contribution, spouse contribution offset, first home super saver scheme and downsizer contribution | Checks age, income, ownership and contribution limits for each scheme, and warns when a timing rule is about to matter. |
| Family payments | Family Tax Benefit Parts A and B, with their end-of-year reconciliation | Uses adjusted taxable income, each child’s age and study status, and both payment methods, then shows how a change in income could move your end-of-year result. |
| Child care | Child Care Subsidy and your out-of-pocket cost for each child | Subsidy rate falls as family income rises, with the higher rate for younger siblings. Meridian does not model the activity test. |
| Working from home | Your work-from-home deduction under the fixed-rate and actual-cost methods | Compares both methods, recommends the higher one and flags weeks with no logged hours or missing receipts. |
| Income and salary | Your forecast income for the year and the net pay from any gross salary | Projects year-to-date pay across the full year, separating bonuses from regular pay, and works from gross to net with the tax rules above. |
| Spending and budgets | Where your money goes, and budgets that fit how you manage it | Proportional, envelope and zero-based budgets. Transactions are sorted by rules and Australian merchant matching, and you can change any category. |
| Bills and subscriptions | Recurring payments, their cadence and any price changes | Finds weekly to annual payments in your transactions, detects price increases and flags payments that appear to have stopped. |
| Goals and risks | Progress towards savings goals and early warnings about money risks | Goal pace and emergency fund targets from your spending, and checks on cash flow, spending, debt, tax and income, including what a 1 or 2 point rate rise would add to your repayments. |
Kept current, every financial year.
Each financial year has its own rate file in Meridian, checked against the ATO sources above. When rates or thresholds change, whether at the start of a financial year or part-way through, we update the rules and deliver them in an app update.
This is the upkeep a spreadsheet leaves with you: finding the new tax brackets, Medicare thresholds, HECS repayment rates and super caps, changing the formulas and checking that nothing broke. With Meridian that work is ours, so you save the hours and avoid the quiet formula errors.
What Meridian does not do.
Meridian gives general information, not personal financial advice. Results depend on the details you enter. Read our general advice disclaimer.
Try Meridian on your own accounts.
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