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.
Gross pay, and the tax code that sets everything below it
Everything the calculator does starts from one number, your gross pay, and ends at another, your net pay. Gross vs net pay defines both and every line between them.
The second input is your tax code, and it decides which method payroll uses for every figure below it. 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.
PAYE is income tax and the ACC earners' levy in one line
PAYE is not one tax. It is income tax and the ACC earners' levy withheld as a single figure. What is PAYE sets the boundary of the term.
New Zealand PAYE tax rates publishes the two added together, band by band, which no other New Zealand site does. The ACC earners' levy component is 1.75% of earnings up to $156,641, then it stops.
KiwiSaver, and what your employer pays on top
Your own contribution comes off gross pay at the rate you chose. KiwiSaver contribution rates lists every rate available, and why 3% is not simply one of them.
Your employer pays its own contribution on top of your salary rather than out of it. The KiwiSaver employer contribution is compulsory, at 3.5% minimum. 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.
Student loan repayments
On a tax code ending in SL your employer deducts 12% of everything above the annual threshold of $24,128. 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.
Take-home pay, and how to check it
If the number 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.
This calculator uses Inland Revenue's own pay-period method rather than an annual figure divided by 52. How PAYE is calculated writes that method out step by step.
Per hour, week, fortnight, month and year
The hourly rate and salary calculator converts either direction and shows what an 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.
Common salaries after PAYE, ACC, KiwiSaver and student loan
The share you keep falls as the salary rises, because each extra slice lands in a higher band. New Zealand tax brackets lists all five.
The floor is the adult minimum wage, $24 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.
All figures on 2026–27 Inland Revenue rates, last verified 30 July 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, 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 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. 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, up from 3%. 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 30 July 2026.