ESCT Calculator
ESCT is worked out by truncating the employer contribution for the pay period to whole dollars, then applying your ESCT rate. On $70,000 with a 3.5% employer contribution, that is $2,450.00 a year taxed at 30%, so $735.00 goes to Inland Revenue and $1,715.00 reaches your account.
Your details
3.5% is the compulsory minimum from 1 April 2026. Some employers pay more.
Assuming a threshold amount of $72,450.00. That is this year's gross plus the employer contribution, which is what payroll estimates when you have not been with the employer for a full previous tax year.
Your ESCT rate
Threshold amount $72,450.00
ESCT a year
Taken from the contribution
Reaches your account
2.45% of your gross pay
What happens on each payday
| Frequency | Employer | ESCT | Your fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | $47.12 | − $14.10 | $33.02 |
| Fortnightly | $94.23 | − $28.20 | $66.03 |
| Monthly | $204.17 | − $61.20 | $142.97 |
| Annual | $2,450.00 | − $735.00 | $1,715.00 |
On a fortnightly cycle the $94.23 contribution is treated as $94.00 for the ESCT calculation. The cents are not taxed, and they are not lost either: they still go into your fund.
Why 26 fortnights do not equal one year
Payroll truncates each period's contribution to whole dollars before the rate applies. The cents are not taxed, and they are not lost either: they still go into your fund. On $70,000, the same annual contribution produces a different yearly ESCT total depending on how often you are paid.
| Pay cycle | Contribution | Taxed on | ESCT each pay | Over a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | $47.12 | $47 | $14.10 | $733.20 |
| Fortnightly | $94.23 | $94 | $28.20 | $733.20 |
| Every four weeks | $188.46 | $188 | $56.40 | $733.20 |
| Monthly | $204.17 | $204 | $61.20 | $734.40 |
Calculated in one lump the annual figure is $735.00. Every row above differs from it, and every row is correct. This is the arithmetic behind the whole-dollar rule set out on ESCT rates.
Your rate is set by last year, not this year
The single biggest cause of a mismatch. Your ESCT rate comes from your ESCT rate threshold amount, which is the previous tax year's salary from that employer plus the gross employer superannuation contributions made for you in that year. It is fixed for the whole tax year.
So a pay rise does not move your ESCT rate until the following 1 April, and someone who changed jobs mid-year can be on a rate that matches neither salary. The calculator above takes the threshold amount as an editable input for exactly this reason. Leave it on the default and it assumes this year's gross plus the employer contribution, which is the right estimate only when your income has not moved.
Three reasons a correct figure still differs
Before concluding payroll has it wrong, rule these out. All three produce a genuine difference between a correct hand calculation and a correct pay run.
- The threshold amount is a year behind. A rise from below $64,200 to above it does not change your ESCT rate until the next 1 April. Enter last year's figures in the calculator to reproduce what payroll did.
- Each payday is truncated separately. Truncation removes tax, not contribution, so a payday total always comes out at or below the figure calculated in one lump. On this example the largest gap across a whole year is $1.80, in your favour. Which cycle loses most is not a matter of frequency: it depends on where the cents happen to fall, which is why three of the four rows above land on the same total.
- A voluntary contribution above the minimum. ESCT applies to the whole employer contribution, not only the compulsory 3.5%. An employer matching you at a higher rate pays ESCT on all of it, so the figure scales with the contribution rather than with your salary.
Next
- employer superannuation contribution taxWhat ESCT is, and where it sits in the payslip waterfall
- ESCT ratesAll five bands, and how the threshold amount is worked out
- Employer contribution calculatorThe whole contribution, before and after ESCT
- Employer contributionThe compulsory 3.5% on top of your salary
- take-home pay calculatorYour payslip, with the employer contribution alongside it
Where these figures come from
- IRD. Employer superannuation contribution tax
- IRD. Employer contributions to KiwiSaver
- IRD. Payroll calculations and business rules specification
2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.
Common questions
How do I work out ESCT on my employer's KiwiSaver contribution?
Take the employer contribution for the pay period, truncate it to whole dollars, then apply your ESCT rate. On $70,000 with a 3.5% employer contribution that is $2,450.00 a year at 30%, so $735.00 of ESCT and the rest into your account.
Why does my ESCT not match what I calculated?
Three causes. Your threshold amount is lastyear's salary plus last year's gross employer contributions, so a pay rise moves your rate a year late. Each payday is truncated to whole dollars first, so the paydays never sum to the annual figure exactly. And a rate set at the start of the year does not move mid-year.
What figure do I put in for my ESCT rate threshold amount?
Last tax year's salary from that employer plus the gross employer contributions they made in that year. Not this year's salary, and not the figure after ESCT. If you did not work there for all of last year the employer estimates the current year instead. ESCT rates works through how the amount is derived.
Does ESCT come out of my pay?
No. It comes out of the employer contribution before that money reaches your account, so your take-home pay is unchanged. That is why it rarely appears as a payslip line even though it reduces what you get. Where it sits in the payslip waterfall is set out on employer superannuation contribution tax.