Guides to your pay
Plain English, checked against Inland Revenue, with every number worked out by the same engine as the calculator.
Your situation
Becoming a contractor in NZ: tax, WT code, GST and ACC
As a contractor your payer withholds tax at a WT rate you choose (at least 10%), but that is only a prepayment: you file a return, may owe provisional tax, get a separate ACC invoice, and lose holiday pay and employer KiwiSaver.
Read the guide →Choosing your KiwiSaver rate in NZ: 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%
From 1 April 2026 the default KiwiSaver rate is 3.5% (rising to 4% on 1 April 2028); you can choose 4, 6, 8 or 10%, drop to 3% only under a temporary rate reduction, and your employer must add at least 3.5% less ESCT.
Read the guide →Your first job in NZ: tax code, KiwiSaver and your first payslip
Give your employer a completed IR330 with your IRD number and the right tax code before your first payday, or 46.75% comes off every dollar.
Read the guide →Leaving a job in NZ: your final pay, holiday pay and tax
Your final pay must include your last wages and all holiday pay owed, paid by the pay day of your final pay period, and holiday pay is taxed as an extra pay that is often squared up with a refund after 31 March.
Read the guide →New to NZ or on a working holiday: IRD number, tax code and refunds
Get an IRD number online before your first payday, give your employer an IR330 with code M, and you pay the same PAYE as anyone else; there is no backpacker rate.
Read the guide →Paid parental leave and tax in NZ: 2026/27 rates explained
Paid parental leave is taxed like wages under the tax code you give IRD, with no ACC levy, and you can opt in to KiwiSaver deductions that IRD matches with a 3.5% contribution.
Read the guide →How much of a pay rise do you keep in NZ? (2026/27)
At the salaries in this guide you keep roughly 57 to 77 cents of each extra dollar in 2026/27 after tax, ACC levy and 3.5% KiwiSaver, less with a student loan, and a pay rise never lowers your take-home pay.
Read the guide →How redundancy pay is taxed in NZ (2026/27)
Redundancy pay is taxed as an extra pay at the marginal rate on your last two pay periods annualised plus the payment, with no ACC levy and no KiwiSaver deduction.
Read the guide →Two jobs in NZ: secondary codes and tailored tax codes
Your second job uses a flat secondary code chosen by your total income from all jobs; when that flat rate overshoots, a tailored tax code from IRD sets a rate closer to your real tax, for one employer and one tax year at a time.
Read the guide →Working past 65 in NZ: NZ Super, tax codes and KiwiSaver
Working does not reduce your own NZ Super, but the job usually goes on a secondary code chosen from your total income, and your employer no longer has to pay KiwiSaver.
Read the guide →Working while studying in NZ: tax codes, student loan and allowance
If you get a student allowance, your job takes a secondary code with 12% student loan on every dollar; if you do not, it is usually M SL with nothing for the loan until you pass $464 a week.
Read the guide →Year-end tax refund or bill in NZ: why and what to do
If your income is only wages and taxed investments, IRD squares up your tax automatically from late May; a refund or bill usually comes from a wrong tax code, a second job, part-year income, a bonus or the IETC, and bills are due 7 February.
Read the guide →Understand your payslip
Tax codes explained
M, ME, the secondary codes and what happens if you pick the wrong one.
Read the guide →Secondary tax and second jobs
Why a second job looks over-taxed, and how to fix it.
Read the guide →KiwiSaver and student loan deductions
How each one comes out of your pay, and the rates.
Read the guide →Bonuses, back pay and holiday pay
Why a bonus seems taxed more, and how extra pay works.
Read the guide →