New Zealand PAYE & Take-Home Pay Calculator
What actually lands in your bank account after PAYE, the ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver and student loan.
Your income
On M you don't get the independent earner tax credit through your pay. If you earn $24,000–$70,000 and aren't excluded, ME may be worth $520 a year.
Tax bracket
$8,100 of income until your next bracket.
Only the slice of income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate - moving up a bracket never reduces your take-home pay.
Take-Home Pay
75.9% of gross
PAYE Tax
Effective 20.6%
KiwiSaver
Your 3.5% contribution
ACC Levy
1.75% of earnings
Your employer also contributes
Compulsory employer KiwiSaver of 3.5% on top of your salary. Employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT) is deducted before it reaches your account, so the headline 3.5% is really 2.45% of your gross. Total package $72,450.00.
Where your deductions go
Income vs deductions
Breakdown on $70,000 a year
| Component | Hourly | Weekly | Fortnightly | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Income | $33.65 | $1,346.15 | $2,692.31 | $5,833.33 | $70,000.00 |
| PAYE Tax | $6.36 | $254.24 | $508.48 | $1,101.71 | $13,220.50 |
| ACC Levy | $0.59 | $23.56 | $47.12 | $102.08 | $1,225.00 |
| KiwiSaver | $1.18 | $47.12 | $94.23 | $204.17 | $2,450.00 |
| Take-Home Pay | $25.53 | $1,021.24 | $2,042.48 | $4,425.38 | $53,104.50 |
Hourly figures assume a 40-hour week over 52 weeks (2,080 hours). Annual figures divided evenly across periods; your payslip may differ by a few cents because Inland Revenue truncates at each step of a real pay run.
The breakdown runs in payslip order, so you can check it line by line against how to read a New Zealand payslip. Figures are per hour, week, fortnight, month and year. If you are paid by the hour rather than on a salary, the hourly rate calculator converts in both directions on your own hours a week, rather than assuming a 40-hour one.
Written by Nathan Kerr, payroll writer and editor2026–27 rates. Last reviewed 25 August 2026.
What is PAYE in New Zealand?
PAYE in New Zealand is the pay-as-you-earn system your employer uses to take tax out of every pay before you receive it. It is not one tax. Income tax and the ACC earners' levy are withheld together as a single figure, which is why the deduction on a payslip is larger than the income tax bands alone predict. What is PAYE sets the boundary of the term.
Two further deductions ride on the same pay run without being PAYE. Your KiwiSaver contribution and, on an SL code, your student loan repayment are both calculated on gross pay and filed on the same Employment Information return each payday. Four deductions in total, and this calculator prices each one separately.
How does your tax code change your take-home pay?
Your tax code changes your take-home pay by deciding which rules payroll runs on everything below gross. It sets whether the independent earner tax credit is applied and whether a student loan repayment of 12% comes out, and on a secondary code it replaces the progressive bands with one flat rate. New Zealand tax codes lists every code and its rate. If you are not sure which one is on file, what tax code am I walks five questions to the right answer.
The code sits between the two numbers this calculator works with. Everything starts from one figure, your gross pay, and ends at another, your net pay. Four deductions sit between them, and Gross vs net pay defines both ends and every line in between.
What are the New Zealand tax brackets for 2026–27?
New Zealand's tax brackets for 2026–27 are five progressive bands running from 10.5% to 39%. Each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its own band, so a salary of $180,000 is never taxed at one rate on the lot.
| Taxable income | Rate | Tax on this band |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $15,600 | 10.5% | $1,638.00 |
| $15,601 – $53,500 | 17.5% | $6,632.50 |
| $53,501 – $78,100 | 30.0% | $7,380.00 |
| $78,101 – $180,000 | 33.0% | $33,627.00 |
| $180,001 and over | 39.0% | - |
A pay rise always leaves you with more in hand, because only the dollars above each threshold move to the higher rate. The share you keep still falls as the salary rises, because each extra slice lands in a higher band. New Zealand tax brackets lists all five with the tax each band carries.
What is the ACC earners' levy, and why is it inside your PAYE line?
The ACC earners' levy is 1.75% of your earnings up to $156,641 a year, capped at $2,741.22. It funds accident cover for injuries that happen outside work, and it sits inside your PAYE line because Inland Revenue's deduction tables add it to income tax before the figure ever reaches a payslip.
New Zealand PAYE tax rates publishes the two added together as one rate, band by band, so you can read the figure payroll applies to your next dollar. The ACC earners' levy component stops at $156,641, so every dollar above that carries income tax but no further levy. The ACC levy calculator prices that one line on its own, per week, fortnight, month and year.
How much KiwiSaver comes out of your pay, and what does your employer add?
KiwiSaver takes 3.5% of your gross pay by default, and you can choose 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% instead. KiwiSaver contribution rates lists every rate available, and why 3% is not simply one of them.
Your employer adds 3.5% on top of your salary rather than out of it. The KiwiSaver employer contribution is compulsory at that rate for employees aged 16 to 64. That contribution is then taxed before it is invested: ESCT: employer superannuation contribution tax is the deduction, and it is the one figure no competing New Zealand take-home calculator puts on the payslip.
Do you have a student loan repayment taken from every pay?
On a tax code ending in SL, yes. Your employer deducts 12% of everything above $24,128 a year, every payday, on top of your income tax. The threshold is applied per pay period rather than annually, so a weekly payslip uses $464.00 and a fortnightly one $928.00. Student loan repayments sets out the rules and the pay-period thresholds.
The student loan repayment calculator works out the deduction on its own and estimates how long the balance takes to clear. The repayment is not a tax, and it does not reduce the income tax on the same pay.
What is $70,000 after tax in New Zealand?
$70,000 a year is $53,105 in your hand on tax code M with the 3.5% KiwiSaver rate and no student loan. That is 75.9% of the salary, or about $4,425 a month, with a marginal rate of 30% on the next dollar you earn.
| Line | A year |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $70,000 |
| Income tax | − $13,220.50 |
| ACC earners' levy | − $1,225.00 |
| KiwiSaver at 3.5% | − $2,450.00 |
| Take-home pay | $53,105 |
Your employer also pays $2,450.00 into your KiwiSaver on top of that salary, and ESCT of $735.00 comes off the contribution before it is invested, leaving $1,715.00. Change the salary in the calculator above to run your own figure.
How much tax is deducted from your pay in New Zealand?
Tax deducted from your pay in New Zealand is income tax plus the 1.75% ACC earners' levy, withheld together as PAYE. On $70,000 that pair comes to $14,446 a year. KiwiSaver and any student loan repayment follow PAYE, so the share that reaches your account falls further again.
| A year, gross | PAYE | KiwiSaver at 3.5% | Take-home | Share kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | − $6,608 | − $1,400 | $31,992 | 80.0% |
| $60,000 | − $11,271 | − $2,100 | $46,630 | 77.7% |
| $70,000 | − $14,446 | − $2,450 | $53,105 | 75.9% |
| $90,000 | − $21,153 | − $3,150 | $65,698 | 73.0% |
| $120,000 | − $31,578 | − $4,200 | $84,223 | 70.2% |
| $180,000 | − $52,019 | − $6,300 | $121,681 | 67.6% |
The share you keep falls from 80.0% to 67.6% across that range, on a tax code with no student loan. The floor under all of it is the adult minimum wage, $23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026. Minimum wage after tax shows what it leaves at part-time and full-time hours, and living wage vs minimum wage prices the gap between the two benchmarks after tax.
What changed for PAYE in 2026–27?
What changed for PAYE on 1 April 2026 is the ACC earners' levy. The rate rose from 1.67% to 1.75%, the earnings it is charged on moved from $152,790 to $156,641, and the most anyone pays in a year went from $2,551.59 to $2,741.22, an increase of $189.63.
KiwiSaver moved on the same day. The default employee rate and the compulsory employer rate are both 3.5% for 2026–27, and both rise again to 4% on 1 April 2028. The adult minimum wage is $23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026.
Income tax brackets did not change. The five bands have run unchanged since 31 July 2024, and the student loan threshold holds at $24,128 with a 12% repayment rate. The rates changelog records every figure on this site and the date it changed.
What are the most common take-home pay calculator mistakes?
The most common take-home pay calculator mistake is dividing an annual figure by 52. Inland Revenue truncates rather than rounds, at defined points inside each pay period, so a year split into 52 equal weeks lands cents away from a real payslip. This calculator uses Inland Revenue's own pay-period method instead. How PAYE is calculated writes that method out step by step, and the IRD PAYE calculator covers what Inland Revenue's own tool inside myIR leaves out.
The second mistake is treating take-home pay as a fixed number. If the amount in your account moved and your salary did not, why your take-home pay changed prices the causes in dollars, from a bonus to the 53-pay-week year.
The third is running a final pay through an ordinary calculator. The last pay you receive from a job adds unused annual holidays, unused alternative holidays and 8% on top. The final pay calculator works out all five parts and what reaches your account.
Who uses a PAYE calculator?
A PAYE calculator is used by anyone who needs the net figure rather than the gross one. Four groups cover most of them, and each one is checking a different line.
- People checking a payslip. Four deductions can move between two paydays, and each one is priced on its own line here so you can compare them figure by figure.
- People weighing up a job offer. A salary quoted before tax says nothing about the 75.9% that reaches an account at $70,000.
- People changing their KiwiSaver rate. Moving from 3.5% to 10% costs a further 6.5% of gross pay every payday, before the employer contribution is counted.
- People starting a second job. A secondary tax code applies one flat rate to the whole second income instead of running it through the five progressive bands.
Which related calculators help with your take-home pay?
Six related calculators run this same engine on a narrower question. The hourly rate and salary calculator converts in either direction and shows what one hour is worth after tax.
A week is not simply a year divided by 52, because Inland Revenue truncates at each step of a real pay run. The weekly pay calculator matches a weekly payslip to the cent, and the fortnightly pay calculator does the same for the most common New Zealand cycle. Where the two disagree, the pay frequency calculator puts all four cycles on one salary side by side.
To place your own salary against the rest of the country, average and median wage after tax gives both benchmarks before and after PAYE.
All figures on 2026–27 Inland Revenue rates, last verified 25 August 2026. The methodology sets out what this calculator models and what it deliberately does not, the rates changelog records every figure and the date it changed, and about PAYE Calculator NZ covers who publishes it and how it is funded.
Common questions
What is PAYE?
PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is the system your employer uses to work out, deduct and pay to Inland Revenue everything that comes out of your pay before you receive it. Income tax, the ACC earners' levy, your KiwiSaver contribution and any student loan repayment, along with the KiwiSaver contribution your employer pays on top of your salary.
People sometimes use "PAYE" to mean the income tax part alone. In New Zealand payroll practice it covers the whole withholding regime: IRD's own PAYE deduction tables bundle income tax and the ACC earners' levy into a single figure, and KiwiSaver and student loan deductions are filed on the same Employment Information return each payday.
What are the NZ tax rates for 2026–27?
Five progressive bands apply: 10.5% up to $15,600, 17.5% from $15,601 to $53,500, 30% from $53,501 to $78,100, 33% from $78,101 to $180,000, and 39% above $180,000. These are unchanged from the previous year, and the last change took effect 31 July 2024.
Will earning more push me into a bracket that leaves me worse off?
No.New Zealand's system is progressive, meaning each rate applies only to the slice of income inside that band, not to your whole salary. Someone on $85,000 pays 10.5%, 17.5%, 30% and 33% on different portions, never 33% on the lot. A pay rise always leaves you with more in hand.
What is the difference between my marginal and effective tax rate?
Your marginal rate is what you pay on the next dollar you earn, the top band you have reached. Your effective rate is your total income tax divided by your total income, and it is always lower. On $70,000 the marginal rate is 30% but the effective rate is about 18.9%.
What is the ACC earners' levy?
The ACC earners' levy funds accident cover for injuries that happen outside work, and it is collected through PAYE alongside income tax. For 2026–27 it is 1.75% of earnings, charged on income up to $156,641, so the most anyone pays in a year is $2,741.22. The rate rose from 1.67% the previous year, and is legislated to rise again to 1.83% in 2027–28.
How much KiwiSaver comes out of my pay?
Your chosen rate is deducted from your gross pay, 3.5% by default from 1 April 2026. You can opt down to 3%, or choose 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%. Separately, your employer must contribute at least 3.5% on top of your salary. That employer contribution is taxed (ESCT) before it lands in your account, so the amount actually invested is a little lower than the headline figure.
How are student loan repayments calculated?
If you earn over $24,128 a year, your employer deducts 12% of everything above that threshold, on top of your income tax. The threshold is unchanged from the previous year. Use a tax code ending in "SL" so the deduction is made automatically.
Does this calculator use current IRD rates?
Yes. It uses the 2026–27 tax brackets, the 1.75% ACC earners' levy and its $156,641 earnings cap, the 3.5% default KiwiSaver rate and the $24,128 student loan threshold. Every figure is taken from an Inland Revenue page, linked in the footer, and was last verified on 25 August 2026.