Choosing your KiwiSaver rate in NZ: 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%

For the 2026/27 tax year you can contribute 3.5% (the default since 1 April 2026), 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your gross pay. A 3% rate is available only under an approved temporary rate reduction lasting 3 to 12 months. Your employer must add at least 3.5% whatever rate you pick, less employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT). On a $70,000 salary paid fortnightly, each step up from 3.5% to 4% costs $13.46 of take-home pay a fortnight.

The rates you can choose in 2026/27

The contribution rates changed on 1 April 2026. According to Inland Revenue's KiwiSaver changes page and its 2026/27 payroll specification:

The IR340 tables put it plainly: "If your employee has been automatically enrolled, the default KiwiSaver rate is 3.5%." If you were on 3% last year and did nothing, your deduction moved to 3.5% from 1 April 2026. Unless you choose otherwise, it moves again to 4% for paydays on or after 1 April 2028.

Your contribution is a percentage of your gross pay. Income tax and the ACC levy are worked out on the same gross pay first, so your PAYE does not change with your KiwiSaver rate; only your take-home does.

Take-home pay per fortnight at each rate

These figures come from this site's PAYE engine for the 2026/27 tax year, tax code M, paid fortnightly, no student loan. PAYE is the same in every row: $328.18 a fortnight at $50,000, $555.58 at $70,000 and $947.18 at $100,000.

What a step up from the 3.5% default costs you per fortnight, in take-home pay:

Every dollar of that goes into your own KiwiSaver account, so it is a shift from spending to saving, not a cost in the usual sense. Run your own salary and rate through the weekly and fortnightly pay calculator.

Worked example: one fortnight at $70,000

Here is a single fortnight's payslip on a $70,000 salary in 2026/27, tax code M, KiwiSaver at the 3.5% default, worked through this site's PAYE engine.

Move the same person to 6% and their own contribution rises to $161.53, the employer's net amount stays at $66.03, and the total going in each fortnight becomes $227.56. Their take-home falls by $67.30, to $1,975.20.

Over a full year at 3.5%, that is $2,450.00 from your own pay and $4,165.00 into your account once the employer's net contribution is added.

A student loan sits alongside this. On the same $70,000 with code M SL, the repayment is $211.68 a fortnight and take-home at 3.5% KiwiSaver drops to $1,830.82.

How the minimum rates have changed

If you are comparing payslips across years, these are the default employee rate and the compulsory employer minimum in each recent tax year, from IRD's payroll specifications and PAYE tables:

In 2024/25 and 2025/26 the choices were 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%. From 1 April 2026, 3% left the standard list and became the temporary rate reduction described below. ESCT bands were also raised from 1 April 2025, so an employer contribution taxed at 30% in 2024/25 may now be taxed at 17.5% on the same salary.

Your employer's contribution, after ESCT

Your employer must contribute at least 3.5% of your gross salary or wages from 1 April 2026 (it was 3% in 2025/26), and this is paid in addition to your pay, not taken out of it (IRD: Employer contributions, updated 28 July 2026). The minimum stays 3.5% whether you contribute 3.5% or 10%.

The employer contribution is taxed before it reaches your account, through ESCT. The ESCT rate depends on your "ESCT rate threshold amount": your salary or wages from that employer in the previous tax year plus the gross employer contributions it paid you. If you were not employed there for the whole previous year, the employer estimates this year's figure instead. The rate is fixed for the whole tax year.

Here is what actually lands in your account each fortnight from your employer in 2026/27, assuming you earned the same salary last year:

Over a full year at $70,000, that is $2,450.00 from your employer, $735.00 of ESCT and $1,715.00 net. ESCT is worked on the whole-dollar part of each contribution, so the yearly figures are not exactly 26 times the fortnightly ones.

For the other two salaries, the engine gives $1,750.00 gross, $306.25 ESCT and $1,443.75 net at $50,000, and $3,500.00 gross, $1,155.00 ESCT and $2,345.00 net at $100,000. The higher your income, the bigger the share ESCT takes, because the ESCT bands follow your salary just as income tax does.

One thing to watch if your salary has just jumped: the ESCT rate is set on last year's salary plus last year's employer contributions, so a pay rise partway through the year does not change it until the next tax year starts on 1 April.

Dropping to 3%: the temporary rate reduction

If 3.5% is more than you can manage for a while, you can apply for a temporary rate reduction to 3%. The rules from IRD's KiwiSaver changes page and the payroll specification:

• It must be approved, and lasts between 3 and 12 months.
• It has been available since 1 April 2026.
• To keep paying 3% after the approved period, you must apply again.
• Your employer can choose to match you at 3%. Otherwise its minimum stays 3.5%.

Weigh both sides before you apply. At $70,000 a year, dropping to 3% adds $13.47 a fortnight to your take-home pay. If your employer matches you at 3%, its net contribution falls from $66.03 to $56.76 a fortnight ($80.76 gross less $24.00 ESCT). At $50,000 the reduction adds $9.61 a fortnight, and a matching employer's net contribution falls from $55.58 to $47.72.

What counts as gross pay, and who gets an employer contribution

Both your deduction and the employer's contribution are worked on gross salary and wages. Under IRD's specification that includes bonuses, commissions, gratuities, overtime and other remuneration. It excludes redundancy payments, reasonable accommodation, certain overseas allowances, voluntary bonding payments and employee share scheme benefits.

So a bonus has KiwiSaver taken at your normal rate, and your employer contributes on it too, but redundancy pay does not (IR335). The bonus tax calculator shows the effect on a lump sum.

Who gets a compulsory employer contribution changed on 1 April 2026 as well:

• Members aged 16 and 17 now qualify. Before 1 April 2026 the age range was 18 to 64.
• Under 16, and 65 and over: your employer does not have to contribute.

How to choose your rate

There is no single right rate, but the numbers above suggest a simple way to decide.

1. Start from what you can live on. Look at your take-home at 3.5% in the table and ask whether the next step down the column still covers your rent, bills and buffer. At $70,000, 6% leaves $1,975.20 a fortnight; 10% leaves $1,867.50.
2. Remember the employer amount is fixed at the minimum. The compulsory employer minimum is 3.5% whether you choose 3.5% or 10%. Anything above that is your own money.
3. Plan for 1 April 2028. The default rises to 4% then. If you are on the default, on 2026/27 figures that step costs $13.46 a fortnight at $70,000, so build it in now.
4. Use the 3% option as a short-term tool. It lasts 3 to 12 months and may reduce your employer's contribution if it chooses to match. Set a reminder for when it ends.
5. Check your payslip after any change. Your KiwiSaver line should be your gross pay times your rate, and PAYE should not move.

If you also have a student loan, the repayment comes out alongside KiwiSaver. Our KiwiSaver and student loan guide shows how the two interact on a payslip.

Questions people ask

What is the default KiwiSaver rate in 2026/27?

3.5% of gross pay, for paydays on or after 1 April 2026. It rises to 4% for paydays on or after 1 April 2028.

Can I still contribute 3%?

Only under an approved temporary rate reduction lasting 3 to 12 months. To stay on 3% after that, you must apply again.

Does my employer pay more if I choose 6% or more?

Not by law. The compulsory employer contribution is at least 3.5% of your gross pay whatever rate you choose, less ESCT.

Does my KiwiSaver rate change how much tax I pay?

No. PAYE is worked out on your gross pay, before KiwiSaver, so a higher rate lowers your take-home pay but not your PAYE.

How much of my employer's contribution do I actually get?

The contribution less ESCT. On $70,000 a year in 2026/27, 3.5% is $94.23 a fortnight, ESCT at 30% takes $28.20, and $66.03 reaches your account.