Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Edition NAT 0929-03.2025 6 pages

Medicare Levy Variation Declaration (NAT 0929) — ATO

The ATO form you give your employer or other payer to change how much is withheld from your pay for the Medicare levy or Medicare levy surcharge.

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Medicare levy variation declaration · Medicare levy variation declaration
The official Australian Taxation Office (ATO) form, edition NAT 0929-03.2025 — blank
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What is Medicare levy variation declaration?

The Medicare levy variation declaration, NAT 0929, authorises your payer — usually your employer — to adjust the tax withheld from your pay for the Medicare levy. You can use it to have extra withheld to cover the Medicare levy surcharge, to claim a full or half exemption from the Medicare levy, to claim a reduction based on low family income, or to claim an exemption from compulsory study loan repayments for a year in which you're entitled to a Medicare levy reduction.

It works alongside the Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092): you must have given your payer a TFN declaration before you can vary your Medicare levy. Where the Withholding declaration (NAT 3093) deals with things like the tax-free threshold and residency, NAT 0929 deals only with the Medicare levy, the surcharge and the related study loan exemption.

FileIt helps you fill in the current edition (NAT 0929-03.2025) through guided questions that follow the form's own 'go to question' skips. Your answers are printed into the ATO's own PDF, your name can be pre-filled from your People records, and the completed form is saved to your FileIt vault. Sign it by hand or with FileIt's optional e-signature, then give it to your payer yourself — FileIt never sends it to the ATO or your employer.

Who fills it
The payee (you) completes Section A; the payer completes Section B
Given to
Your payer (employer) — not the ATO
When
When your Medicare levy situation changes, or when you start with a new payer and want them to vary withholding
Signatures
Payee signs Section A; payer signs Section B
Before you start
You must already have given this payer a Tax file number declaration (NAT 3092)
Edition
NAT 0929-03.2025 (instructions current from 1 March 2025)

Who needs to fill out Medicare levy variation declaration?

  • Employees without appropriate private patient hospital cover whose income is high enough that they'll pay the Medicare levy surcharge, and who want extra withheld during the year.
  • People in one of the three Medicare levy exemption categories — medical (such as blind pensioners and Gold Card holders), foreign residents, or people not entitled to Medicare benefits.
  • Low-income families and sole parents who may qualify for a Medicare levy reduction based on family taxable income.
  • People with a HELP, VSL, FS, SSL or AASL debt who are entitled to a Medicare levy reduction and so are exempt from extra study loan withholding for the year.
  • Payers and payroll staff who receive the form and need to know which withholding adjustment to apply.

When to use Medicare levy variation declaration

  • When you start receiving payments from a new payer and want them to vary the Medicare levy amount withheld.
  • When your circumstances change — for example you drop your private hospital cover, gain or lose a spouse or dependants, or become a foreign resident.
  • When you become entitled to a Medicare levy exemption or reduction and would rather have less withheld during the year than wait for your tax return.
  • If you have more than one job and are entitled to an exemption: lodge it only with the payers you claim the tax-free threshold from.

What you need before you start

  • Your tax file number (you're not legally required to quote it, but quoting it reduces the risk of errors and extra tax).
  • Your full name and home address.
  • Whether you have appropriate private patient hospital cover for yourself, your spouse and dependent children.
  • Which Medicare levy exemption category, if any, applies to you — and, for Category 3, a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia.
  • Whether you have a spouse, and your combined weekly income (or your income as a sole parent) compared with the ATO's relevant weekly income amount.
  • Whether you have a HELP, VSL, FS, SSL or AASL debt.
  • The number of dependent children you have, if any.
  • For the payer: their ABN (or withholding payer number) and registered business or trading name.

What’s on Medicare levy variation declaration

The 2025 edition has 6 pages. FileIt asks for it in 6 parts, and it is signed by Employee and Employer:

  1. Section A: Payee's declaration — your details (questions 1–3)Employee
  2. Section A: Medicare levy surcharge (question 4)Employee
  3. Section A: Exemption and reduction (questions 5–10)Employee
  4. Section A: Study loans and dependent children (questions 11–12)Employee
  5. Section A: Declaration by payeeEmployee
  6. Section B: Payer's declarationEmployer

How to fill out Medicare levy variation declaration, step by step

1 Section A — Questions 1 to 3: your details

Enter your TFN, title, name and home address. Payers must withhold the top rate of tax if you haven't provided your TFN or claimed an exemption from quoting it, so it's worth including.

FileIt prints the TFN and your address in the form's boxes and pre-fills your name from your People record.

2 Question 4: Medicare levy surcharge

Answer Yes if you want your payer to increase the amount withheld to cover the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS), and choose the rate: 1%, 1.25% or 1.5%. You're liable for the MLS if you and your dependants aren't in an exemption category, you don't have appropriate private patient hospital cover, and your income is above the ATO's threshold.

If the surcharge is the only change you want, you can stop after this question and sign.

3 Questions 5 to 7: Medicare levy exemption

Question 5 asks whether you qualify for an exemption. If you do, question 6 asks whether you're claiming a full exemption and, if not, question 7 asks about a half exemption. The instructions explain the three categories — medical, foreign resident, and not entitled to Medicare benefits — and the dependant conditions that decide whether the exemption is full or half.

If you answer Yes at question 6 or 7, the form tells you to go straight to question 9; FileIt follows that skip.

4 Question 8: Medicare levy reduction

If you're not in an exemption category, you may be able to claim a reduction based on your family taxable income. Answer Yes here to claim it.

5 Questions 9 and 10: spouse and weekly income

Say whether you have a spouse (the ATO defines spouse for this purpose on its website), and whether the combined weekly income of you and your spouse — or your income as a sole parent — is less than the relevant weekly income amount published by the ATO.

6 Questions 11 and 12: study loans and dependent children

Question 11 asks whether you have a HELP, VSL, FS, SSL or AASL debt. If you answer Yes here and Yes at question 10, you're exempt from having additional amounts withheld for the loan.

Question 12 asks whether you have dependent children and, if so, how many.

7 Declaration by payee

Declare that the information is true and correct, sign and date. The form warns that the tax laws impose heavy penalties for false or misleading statements. Give the completed form to your payer.

8 Section B — Payer's declaration

The payer enters their ABN (or withholding payer number) and business or trading name, signs and dates. The form explains how to apply it: a Yes at question 4 increases withholding by the chosen percentage of gross earnings, while a Yes at question 6, 7, 8 or 10 means using the Medicare levy adjustment weekly tax table (NAT 1010). The payer files the form and keeps it; it isn't sent to the ATO.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Giving the form to a payer before you've given them a Tax file number declaration — the TFN declaration must come first.
  • Answering question 8 after claiming a full or half exemption at question 6 or 7 — the form says to go to question 9.
  • Choosing a surcharge rate without checking your income against the current MLS thresholds on the ATO website.
  • Lodging an exemption with every employer when you have more than one job — lodge it only with the payers you claim the tax-free threshold from.
  • Forgetting to lodge a new declaration when your circumstances change, such as taking out or dropping private hospital cover.
  • Sending the form to the ATO — it goes to your payer, who keeps it.
  • Leaving questions unanswered — the form asks you to answer all questions in Section A before signing.

After you fill it out

Sign and date the payee's declaration — by hand on the printed form, or with FileIt's e-signature — and give the whole form to your payer. If your payer uses FileIt too, you can send it for e-signature so they complete and sign Section B.

Your payer applies the variation to payments made after they receive the form, and a new declaration overrides any earlier one. They keep it as sensitive TFN information for the current and following financial year once it's replaced or you leave. Don't send it to the ATO; FileIt never lodges it for you.

Keep your copy in your FileIt vault. Any exemption, reduction or surcharge is still worked out finally in your tax return, so revisit the declaration whenever your cover, family or income changes.

Fill out Medicare levy variation declaration online with FileIt

  1. Pick the person. Choose someone from People and FileIt fills in their name, date of birth, address and other details it already knows.
  2. Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 25 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
  3. Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real Australian Taxation Office (ATO) form, and let FileIt do any worksheet arithmetic.
  4. Generate the official PDF. FileIt prints your answers into the agency’s own PDF and files it in that person’s folder in your vault. Sign it, or send it for e-signature.

FileIt fills the form — it never files or submits anything for you. Deliver the finished form to whoever asked for it, the way the form’s instructions say.

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Medicare levy variation declaration: frequently asked questions

What is the Medicare levy variation declaration?

It's the ATO form NAT 0929 that authorises your payer to change the tax withheld from your pay for the Medicare levy — to cover the Medicare levy surcharge, or to reduce withholding because you're entitled to a Medicare levy exemption or reduction.

Do I send NAT 0929 to the ATO?

No. You give the completed and signed declaration to your payer, usually your employer. The payer completes Section B, files the form and keeps it. The form says not to send it to the ATO.

Can I fill in the Medicare levy variation declaration online?

Yes. FileIt lets you fill in the official NAT 0929 PDF online for free, following the form's own question order, and saves the completed form to your vault. You can also complete employment forms through ATO online services via myGov if your employer uses them.

What does question 4 about the Medicare levy surcharge do?

Answering Yes asks your payer to withhold an extra 1%, 1.25% or 1.5% of your gross earnings to cover the Medicare levy surcharge, so you're less likely to face a bill at tax time. You pick the rate that matches your income and circumstances.

Who can claim a Medicare levy exemption?

The form's instructions describe three categories: medical (for example blind pensioners and people entitled to full free treatment under Defence Force arrangements or a Veterans' Affairs Gold Card), foreign residents, and people not entitled to Medicare benefits, such as temporary residents with a Medicare Entitlement Statement. Dependant conditions decide whether the exemption is full or half.

How is this different from the Withholding declaration (NAT 3093)?

NAT 3093 covers the tax-free threshold, residency, study loans and tax offsets. NAT 0929 deals only with the Medicare levy — surcharge, exemption and reduction — plus the related study loan exemption. You may need both.

What happens if I have more than one job?

If you're entitled to an exemption and have more than one job, the form says to lodge it only with the payers you're claiming the tax-free threshold from.

When should I lodge a new declaration?

Lodge a new one when you start receiving payments from a new payer and want them to vary withholding, or whenever your circumstances change. A new declaration overrides the previous one.

Official sources

FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-09-26.

Fill out Medicare levy variation declaration online