Continue your plan
Useful next calculations
Rates & sources2026/27
IRD marginal income-tax bands, ACC earners levy at 1.75% up to $156,641 of liable earnings, KiwiSaver employee rates (3.5% default from 1 April 2026) and student-loan repayments at 12% over $24,128.
| Band / figure | Rate |
|---|---|
| Top band | 39% over $180,000 |
| ACC earner levy | 1.75% to $156,641 |
| KiwiSaver default | 3.5% from 1 Apr 2026 |
| Student loan | 12% over $24,128 |
Source: IRD — tax rates, ACC earners levy, KiwiSaver and student loans — source checked for 2026/27.
When to use this calculator
- Before accepting a pay change, bonus or contribution arrangement.
- When you want a simple take-home or conversion estimate before payroll or filing.
- When you need to convert between hourly, monthly and annual pay.
- When you want to compare two pay scenarios using the same assumptions.
A realistic New Zealand planning example
Use these sample inputs as a quick scenario test, then change one variable at a time to compare outcomes.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual Gross Salary (NZ$) | NZ$70,000 |
| Pay Frequency | Fortnightly (26/yr) |
| KiwiSaver Rate | Not enrolled |
| Student Loan? | No |
After entering these figures, review take-home per pay period, gross per period and income tax + acc per period together rather than in isolation. Then rerun the tool with one input adjusted.
How to read your results
Take-Home per Pay Period
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Gross per Period
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Income Tax + ACC per Period
Review this figure alongside gross income and the local tax rules that apply to you. It is a planning estimate, not a filing result.
KiwiSaver per Period
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Annual Income Tax
Review this figure alongside gross income and the local tax rules that apply to you. It is a planning estimate, not a filing result.
Annual ACC Levy
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Annual KiwiSaver
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Annual Take-Home
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Annual Student Loan
The figure produced by this output for the inputs you entered. Change one variable at a time if you want to see what drives it.
Method & assumptionsAuthoritative sources
This calculator divides your annual New Zealand salary into per-period take-home pay after the deductions that make up PAYE: income tax at the IRD marginal bands, the ACC earners’ levy, your chosen KiwiSaver contribution, and — if you select the option — student-loan repayments. PAYE is not just income tax: the ACC earners’ levy is collected through the same payroll deduction and stops once your earnings pass the annual maximum liable earnings shown in the guidance below. All rates, thresholds and maximums used here are rendered from IRD-published figures for the current tax year (1 April to 31 March).
The figures are estimates based on employment income only and assume one main job under the M tax code. They do not account for Working for Families entitlements, the independent earner tax credit, secondary income from other jobs (which uses SB, S, SH, ST or SA tax codes at different rates), or payroll rounding on individual pay days. KiwiSaver contributions reduce your net pay but are savings credited to your fund, supplemented by your employer’s compulsory contribution. The annual net is divided by 52, 26, 13 or 12 to match your pay frequency.
Common mistakes
- !Using an assumption that is not supported by a current local quote, bill, statement or official source.
- !Treating a generic estimate as a lender, provider, payroll or tax authority decision.
- !Mixing monthly and annual inputs without converting them consistently.
- !Testing only one scenario instead of checking how a cautious assumption changes the result.
What to do next
- Run a second scenario with a cautious assumption so you can see the downside clearly.
- Compare the result with the related calculators below before making a decision.
- Check current local rules, eligibility and provider terms before applying or committing money.
- Keep a record of the assumptions so you can update the estimate when a quote, bill or pay figure changes.
How your New Zealand take-home pay is calculated
Guidance reviewed 2 September 2026A New Zealand payslip is built from the PAYE stack: income tax at the IRD marginal bands, the ACC earners’ levy collected through the same PAYE deduction, your KiwiSaver contribution if you are enrolled, and a student-loan repayment if you have one. This calculator models all four on an annual basis and divides the result into the pay frequency you choose.
Because PAYE is not just income tax, the calculator shows the pieces separately: the income-tax and ACC lines move with the IRD bands and the levy cap, the KiwiSaver line follows the rate you select, and the student-loan line only appears when you switch it on. All rates, thresholds and maximums come from IRD-published figures for the current tax year (1 April to 31 March).
| Income tax bands (2026/27) | 10.5%: $0 to $15,600; 17.5%: $15,600 to $53,500; 30%: $53,500 to $78,100; 33%: $78,100 to $180,000; 39%: $180,000 to above |
|---|---|
| ACC earners’ levy (2026/27) | 1.75% of liable earnings up to $156,641 (maximum $2,741.22) |
| KiwiSaver employee rates | 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% — default 3.5% from 1 April 2026; choose your rate in the calculator |
| Student loan (when selected) | 12% of income over $24,128 a year (≈ $464/week) |
Worked example (illustrative figures only)
- Inputs:
- NZ$80,000 salary · fortnightly pay (26) · KiwiSaver 3.5% · no student loan
- Estimate:
- Take-home ≈ $2,289.33 per fortnight (gross $3,076.92); income tax + ACC $679.90 and KiwiSaver $107.69 per fortnight; annual take-home $59,522.50
- What it means:
- Across the year that is income tax $16,277.50 + ACC levy $1,400.00 + KiwiSaver $2,800.00. Selecting the student-loan option would add $6,704.64 a year ($257.87 per fortnight) and cut take-home to $2,031.46 per fortnight — PAYE in the wide sense covers all of these payroll deductions, not income tax alone.
- What is excluded:
- Working for Families, the independent earner tax credit, secondary-income tax codes, employer KiwiSaver contributions and payroll rounding are not modelled. Figures are annual averages, not a payroll run.
Example values only — not financial advice.
Assumptions
- One main job under the M tax code; secondary-income tax codes (SB, S, SH, ST, SA) are not modelled.
- Income tax uses the IRD bands (10.5%: $0 to $15,600; 17.5%: $15,600 to $53,500; 30%: $53,500 to $78,100; 33%: $78,100 to $180,000; 39%: $180,000 to above); the ACC earners’ levy is 1.75% up to $156,641.
- KiwiSaver is deducted at the rate you select, on gross salary — the default from 1 April 2026 is 3.5%.
- Student-loan repayments are only deducted when you select the option: 12% over $24,128 a year.
- Per-period figures are the annual totals divided by the number of payments; real payroll deducts cumulatively with its own rounding.
Not included
- Secondary income from a second job uses separate tax codes and is not modelled — total PAYE across two jobs will differ.
- Working for Families, the independent earner tax credit and other credits are not applied.
- Employer KiwiSaver contributions are on top of salary and are not shown here — this page models the employee deduction only.
- Casual, irregular or overtime-heavy patterns are annualised into one salary figure.
- Payroll-grade precision is not implied: cumulative per-period tables, pay-period ACC proration and payday rounding are not simulated.
Reading the result
- Compare the per-period figures with your payslip rather than the annual totals — and check the pay frequency matches yours.
- Once year-to-date earnings pass the ACC cap, the levy stops for the rest of the tax year, so later payslips can show slightly higher net pay.
- If your payslip differs materially, check your KiwiSaver rate, whether a student loan applies, and any secondary tax code in use.
Frequently asked
Use arrow keys to navigate items, Enter or Space to expand/collapse.