KiwiSaver When You Are Self-Employed
If you are self-employed there is no employer contribution, no employer superannuation contribution tax and no deduction at source, because there is no employer and no PAYE. You contribute directly to your scheme, at any amount you choose, and the government contribution of up to $260.72 a year still applies.
What stops applying to you
Almost every KiwiSaver rule is written around an employment relationship. Take the employer out and three of the four moving parts disappear at once.
| The mechanism | As an employee | Self-employed |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution rate | 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% of gross pay, 3.5% by default | No rate at all. You choose an amount |
| Deduction at source | Taken from every payslip automatically | Nothing is taken. You pay it in yourself |
| Employer contribution | 3.5% of gross, on top of salary | None. There is no employer |
| ESCT | 3.5% reduced to 2.45% on $70,000 | Not charged. Nothing to charge it on |
| Government contribution | Up to $260.72 a year | Up to $260.72 a year |
Only the last row survives, and that is the row worth building around. An employee on $70,000 receives $1,715.00 a year from their employer after ESCT. You receive nothing equivalent, which is the honest answer to why self-employed KiwiSaver balances grow more slowly.
What happens instead
- You set the amount. There is no minimum, no maximum and no percentage. A direct debit to your scheme provider, a lump sum before the end of June, or nothing at all in a lean year are all permitted.
- You pay it yourself. Either directly to your scheme provider or through Inland Revenue as a voluntary contribution. Nothing is deducted from an invoice or a drawing.
- The money has already been taxed as income. It comes out of profit you pay income tax on, so no further tax applies on the way in. This is the same position as an employee's own contribution and unlike an employer contribution, which carries ESCT.
- Nothing about it reduces your income tax. A KiwiSaver contribution is not a deductible business expense. It is the same rule that stops salary sacrifice working for employees.
The one thing that does not change
The government contribution is paid on your own contributions, and it does not care whether you have an employer. It adds 25% of what you put in, up to $260.72 a year, which means $1,042.86 of contributions collects the maximum.
- The year that counts runs 1 July to 30 June, which is not the tax year. A contribution made on 1 July counts towards a different year from one made on 30 June.
- It is paid to members aged 16 and over, from 1 July 2025.
- It is nil if your taxable income is above $180,000.
- A partial year of membership is pro-rated, so joining in February does not collect a full year's worth.
For a self-employed member this is the entire external return on the account, and $1,042.86 a year is the number to hold on to.
If you pay yourself through your own company, this page is not about you
Working for yourself and being self-employed for KiwiSaver are different things. If your company pays you salary or wages and deducts PAYE, you are an employee of that company. The compulsory employer contribution of 3.5% is payable on that salary, ESCT applies to the contribution, and your own company is the party that owes both.
A shareholder-employee who takes drawings and squares up through an end of year tax return, with no PAYE deducted, is in the self-employed position instead. What decides it is whether salary or wages are being paid with PAYE deducted, not what it says on your business card.
Contractors and schedular payments
A contractor paid under the WT tax code sits in the same position. The payer deducts withholding tax at the rate on your IR330C and nothing else. No KiwiSaver deduction, no employer contribution, no ACC earners' levy inside the withholding and no student loan repayment.
The practical consequence is that four things an employee never thinks about become your responsibility at once: the ACC levies, the student loan, the provisional tax and the KiwiSaver. Nothing arrives automatically, and nothing is topped up by anyone else.
Your prescribed investor rate still applies
The tax on what your fund earns does not depend on how you are paid. Your prescribed investor rate is set by your own income and you give it to your scheme provider, not to a payer or an employer. Self-employed income can move year to year, so this is the one KiwiSaver figure worth checking annually rather than setting once.
Next
- KiwiSaver contribution ratesWhat the rules look like on the employed side
- KiwiSaver employer contributionThe 3.5% you would receive as an employee
- employer superannuation contribution taxThe tax on an employer contribution, and why you avoid it
- New Zealand tax codesIncluding WT for contractors on schedular payments
Common questions
Can I join KiwiSaver if I am self-employed?
Yes. Membership is open to anyone living in New Zealand who is entitled to live here permanently. You join by contacting a scheme provider directly rather than through an employer, because there is no employer to enrol you.
How much should a self-employed person contribute to KiwiSaver?
There is no minimum and no set rate. The one figure with a rule attached is $1,042.86 between 1 July and 30 June, which is what it takes to collect the full $260.72 government contribution. Above that the amount is entirely yours to choose.
Do self-employed people pay ESCT?
No. ESCT is a tax on employer superannuation contributions, and a self-employed person has no employer making them. What you pay in has already been taxed as income, so nothing further comes off it on the way in.
I pay myself a salary through my own company. Am I self-employed for KiwiSaver?
No. If your company pays you salary or wages with PAYE deducted, you are an employee of that company for KiwiSaver. The compulsory employer contribution is payable, ESCT applies to it, and your company owes both.
Do contractors get KiwiSaver deducted from their pay?
Not from schedular payments. A contractor on the WT tax code has withholding tax deducted and nothing else. No KiwiSaver deduction, no employer contribution, no ACC earners' levy inside the withholding and no student loan repayment. Anything reaching KiwiSaver has to be paid in by you.
Where these figures come from
- IRD. Employer contributions to KiwiSaver
- IRD. Employer superannuation contribution tax
- IRD. KiwiSaver changes
2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.
Related
- KiwiSaver contribution ratesThe employee rates that do not apply to you
- KiwiSaver employer contributionWhat an employee gets that you do not
- employer superannuation contribution taxThe tax you are not paying
- New Zealand tax codesIncluding WT, for schedular payments
- what is PAYEThe system you are outside of