How We Calculate NZ Take-Home Pay

The order of the calculation

Gross pay is your salary, or your hourly rate × hours a week × 52.
Income tax is worked out on your yearly pay in whole dollars, using Inland Revenue's formula for each band: 10.5% up to $15,600; then 17.5% less $1,092.00; 30% less $7,779.50; 33% less $10,122.50; and 39% less $20,922.50 above $180,000.
The ACC earners' levy is 1.75% of pay below $156,641, and $2,741.22 at or above it.
On tax code ME, the independent earner tax credit comes off: $520 from $24,000 to $66,000, less 13 cents a dollar above $66,000, nothing from $70,000. PAYE is income tax plus the ACC levy, less any IETC.
Student loan repayments are 12% of yearly pay above $24,128.
KiwiSaver is your chosen rate of gross pay, taken after tax.
Take-home pay is gross pay less PAYE, student loan and KiwiSaver. Monthly, fortnightly and weekly figures are the yearly amount divided by 12, 26 or 52; the hourly figure divides by your hours × 52.
Your employer's 3.5% KiwiSaver is paid on top. ESCT on it uses your pay plus that contribution as last year's figure.

Each pay, worked out Inland Revenue's way

The card under the payslip follows Inland Revenue's payroll specification for a single pay: annualise the pay and drop the cents, work out the year's PAYE, divide by 52 and cut to whole cents, then convert to the pay period and cut again. Student loan uses the pay in whole dollars above the pay-period threshold. KiwiSaver and the employer contribution are cut to whole cents, and ESCT is worked out on the employer contribution's whole dollars. Why your payslip differs.

How we test it

The calculator is checked against the six worked examples in our research notes, the worked examples in Inland Revenue's payroll specification, and edge cases at every threshold and cap: more than 500 checks in all. On 21 October 2026 we also compared the single-pay method with every main-code row of Inland Revenue's April 2026 IR340 weekly and fortnightly tables and IR341 monthly table (11,025 rows: PAYE on M and ME, student loan, KiwiSaver at each rate, and the employer contribution and ESCT at each rate). Every figure matched. The version in your browser is checked against the version that writes these pages on 600 random cases.

Sources

What we could not confirm from an official source

We read the income tax rates from Inland Revenue's pages and payroll specification, not from the text of Schedule 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007.
We took the $23.95 minimum wage from Employment New Zealand; we did not read the Minimum Wage Order 2026 itself.
The 2027-28 ACC levy figures are set in regulations but could change before 1 April 2027. We do not show a 2027-28 student loan threshold, because none has been published.

Checked against more than one source

ACC earners' levy: Inland Revenue: ACC earners' levy rates and the Accident Compensation (Earners' Levy) Regulations 2025.
Employer KiwiSaver at 3.5%: confirmed against Inland Revenue guidance updated April and July 2026 and the IR340 tables.

What it does not cover

Secondary jobs and secondary tax codes, bonuses and other extra pays, holiday pay paid as a lump sum, redundancy, child support, payroll giving, tailored tax codes and special deduction rates, the no-notification rate, Working for Families, KiwiSaver savings suspensions, other superannuation schemes, overseas-based student loan borrowers, and income other than salary or wages.

Changelog

21 October 2026: New Zealand calculator published for the 2026-27 tax year.

These figures are estimates based on the information you entered and the 2026-27 rules published by Inland Revenue for PAYE, the ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver and student loans. They are general information, not tax, financial or legal advice. Your actual pay can differ, for example because of your tax code, how your employer runs payroll, extra pays such as bonuses, your ESCT rate or other deductions. Check your payslip, or ask your employer or Inland Revenue, before relying on these figures.

How we calculate take-home pay