NZ Tax Calculator 2026–27

How this NZ tax calculator works out your take-home pay

The calculator takes your gross salary (or an hourly rate and hours a week), applies the 2026–27 income tax scale, adds the ACC earners' levy, then takes off KiwiSaver and student loan repayments if you tick them. What is left is your take-home pay, shown yearly, monthly, fortnightly or weekly. It is the same order Inland Revenue's payroll specification uses, so the result matches a normal payslip on tax code M to within a few cents.

To use it: enter your pay, choose your KiwiSaver rate (the default employee rate for 2026–27 is 3.5%), tick the student loan box if you have one, and tick IETC only if you earn between $24,000 and $70,000 and do not get Working for Families, NZ Super or an income-tested benefit. Switch the tax year to 2025–26 if you are checking a refund for the year that has just been assessed.

PAYE, the ACC levy and the other deductions on an NZ payslip

PAYE (pay as you earn) is the income tax your employer deducts every payday and sends to Inland Revenue. On a payslip it usually includes the ACC earners' levy, which for 2026–27 is 1.75% up to $156,641 (maximum $2,741.22). The levy is separate from income tax: ACC says it funds ACC's Earners' Account, which covers injuries from everyday activities outside work, such as sport or DIY at home, including up to 80% of lost income if you cannot work.

Three other deductions can sit beside PAYE:

• KiwiSaver – 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% of gross pay if you are a member. Your employer must add at least 3.5%, less employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT).
• Student loan – 12% of every dollar over $24,128 a year (about $464.00 a week). Your tax code gets "SL" added.
• Child support or other deduction notices – set for the individual, so the calculator leaves them out.

There is no tax-free threshold in New Zealand

Unlike Australia or the UK, New Zealand taxes income from the first dollar. Someone earning $15,000 a year pays 10.5% on all of it – $1,575 – plus the 1.75% ACC levy. The trade-off is a low starting rate and no personal allowance to lose at high incomes.

Low and middle earners get help through tax credits instead. The independent earner tax credit (IETC) is worth up to $520 a year ($10 a week) for income of $24,000–$66,000, reducing by 13c for each dollar over $66,000 until it reaches nil at $70,000. On a $50,000 salary, tax code ME instead of M cuts weekly PAYE from $147.26 to $137.26.

Worked example: $65,000 with KiwiSaver and a student loan

Take a $65,000 salary paid fortnightly ($2,500.00 a pay) on tax code M SL, in KiwiSaver at 3.5%. Over the 2026–27 year the calculator gives:

Minimum wage take-home pay for 2026–27

The adult minimum wage is $23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026, up from $23.50. At 40 hours a week that is $49,816 a year, or $936 more before tax. After income tax, the ACC levy, 3.5% KiwiSaver and the IETC, a full-time minimum wage worker takes home about $40,095 a year – $771.06 a week. The starting-out and training minimum wages are $19.16 an hour; use the hourly mode with your own hours to check.

Common mistakes that make your pay or refund look wrong

Most surprises at the end of the year come from the tax code, not the rates. Inland Revenue says that without an IR330 tax code declaration your employer must deduct at the 45% non-declaration rate.

• Using M on two jobs. Each employer then taxes you as if its job were your only income, so the lower bands are used twice and you end up with a bill.
• Picking a secondary code that is too low. A $20,000 second job on top of a $55,000 main job should use code SH (30%), because the combined $75,000 falls in the $53,501–$78,100 band. SH deducts $6,000, and the job adds $6,000 to your tax bill. Code S would take only $3,500 and leave you owing the rest.
• Keeping ME after a pay rise past $70,000, or after starting Working for Families – the IETC paid through PAYE is then clawed back on your assessment.
• Forgetting SL. If your code lacks SL, Inland Revenue bills the missed student loan repayments after the year ends.

How 2026–27 compares with 2025–26

Income tax rates and thresholds did not change between 2025–26 and 2026–27. What changed is the ACC earners' levy (1.67% to 1.75%) and the default KiwiSaver rate (3% to 3.5%, with employers' compulsory contribution rising to match). On $75,000 with default KiwiSaver, take-home pay moves from $56,777 to $56,342, down $435 – but $375 more goes into your KiwiSaver account from your employer before ESCT.

If you were taxed under PAYE for all of 2025–26, Inland Revenue will calculate your assessment automatically. Its timeline says you hear between the last weekend in May and the end of July; anyone who must file an IR3 has until 7 July, and tax to pay is usually due on 7 February the following year.