IETC Calculator
The independent earner tax credit is $520 a year on total income of $24,000 to $66,000. Above that it abates by 13 cents in the dollar and reaches nil at $70,000. Enter your income from every source below to see your own figure.
Work out your independent earner tax credit
Every job added together, plus any taxable pension, ACC weekly compensation, rental profit or other taxable income. Not one job
Changes the code that delivers the credit, never the amount
- A week
- $10.00
- A fortnight
- $20.00
- For the year
- $520.00
You are in the flat range, $24,000 to $66,000, so the full credit applies. It starts abating $11,000 from here.
The credit abates by 13 cents in the dollar above $66,000. Using code ME delivers it through your payslip during the year. Staying on M does not forfeit it: Inland Revenue applies it in the end-of-year assessment instead, so you receive the same $520 up to a year later.
Total income, not the income from one job
This is the mistake the calculator exists to catch. The credit is tested against every dollar you earn in the tax year, added together. A single job paying $42,000 earns the full $520. Add a second job paying $30,000 and the total is $72,000, which is past the $70,000 cut-off, so the credit is $0.
Neither job looks disqualifying on its own, and payroll cannot see the other one. If you are on code ME across a year like that, the credit you received comes back as tax to pay in the end-of-year assessment.
Inside the abatement band
Between $66,000 and $70,000 every extra dollar of income costs 13 cents of credit, on top of the income tax and ACC earners' levy that dollar already attracts. The whole $520 disappears across $4,000 of income.
| Total income | Credit | A week |
|---|---|---|
| $66,000 | $520.00 | $10.00 |
| $67,000 | $390.00 | $7.50 |
| $68,000 | $260.00 | $5.00 |
| $69,000 | $130.00 | $2.50 |
| $70,000 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
A pay rise inside this band is still worth taking. It is worth 13 cents in the dollar less than the same rise below $66,000, which is worth knowing when you are comparing an offer against overtime that pushes you past the threshold.
What this calculator does not decide
- Your tax residency. The credit requires you to be a New Zealand tax resident. The calculator assumes you are, because residency is a status test rather than an income one.
- Part-year exclusions. Where an excluded payment applied for part of the year only, the credit is apportioned to the part of the year in which it did not. The calculator treats an exclusion as applying to the whole year, which is the conservative answer.
- Whether your income is taxable. Enter taxable income. A first home withdrawal from KiwiSaver, for instance, is not income and does not count.
The eligibility conditions in full, the exclusions explained one by one, and why several New Zealand sites still publish a band that was repealed in 2024, are on the independent earner tax credit.
Next
- the independent earner tax creditEvery rule behind the number above
- tax code MEWhat the credit does to your payslip
- what tax code am IIf the answer here changes your code
- PAYE calculatorYour take-home pay with the credit applied
Common questions
How much independent earner tax credit will I get?
$520 a year on total income of $24,000 to $66,000, if you receive none of the excluded payments. From $66,000 it abates by 13 cents in the dollar and reaches nil at $70,000. Below $24,000 nothing is payable.
Does the calculator use my income from one job or all of them?
All of them. The test is your total income for the tax year: every job, plus any taxable pension, ACC weekly compensation, rental profit or other taxable income. Jobs paying $42,000 and $30,000 count as $72,000, which is past the cut-off, even though each on its own would qualify for the full credit.
How much is the IETC a week?
$10.00 a week, which is $520 across 52 weeks. Inside the abatement band it is less than that, falling to nothing at $70,000.
What tax code do I need to get the IETC?
What happens if I claim the IETC and then earn too much?
The end-of-year assessment recalculates it, and anything you received but were not entitled to becomes tax to pay. That happens if you finish above $70,000, or start receiving an excluded payment part-way through a year spent on code ME. Where an exclusion applied for part of the year only, the credit is apportioned to the part in which it did not.
Where these figures come from
2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.
Related
- the independent earner tax creditThe rules in full, and the abatement table
- tax code METhe code that pays the credit through your payslip
- what tax code am IFive questions, including the credit test
- changing your tax codeMoving to ME, and when it takes effect
- tax refundWhere an unclaimed credit turns up