Student Loan Repayments
New Zealand student loan repayments are 12% of every dollar you earn above $24,128 a year. Your employer deducts them each payday when your tax code ends in SL. A second job has no threshold: 12% comes off every dollar of it.
The rule in three numbers
| Figure | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Repayment rate | 12% |
| Annual repayment threshold | $24,128 |
| Threshold on a second job | None |
The deduction is not a tax and it is not interest. It is a repayment of the money you borrowed, so every dollar taken reduces your balance. It stops on its own when the loan is cleared, which is why a payslip can lose the line without anything having changed about your job.
How your employer works it out
Payroll does not divide your annual repayment by the number of paydays. It works period by period, and the arithmetic is deliberately truncated at each step, which is why the figure on your payslip and the figure you get from dividing the annual number are usually a few cents apart.
- Take your gross pay for this period and truncate it to whole dollars.
- Subtract the threshold for your pay frequency. On a fortnight that is $928.00. student loan repayment threshold.
- Multiply what is left by 12% and truncate to cents. If nothing is left, there is no deduction this period.
Because step two runs on the period rather than the year, a single big pay can produce a deduction in a year that finishes below $24,128. Inland Revenue settles that at the end-of-year assessment along with everything else.
Example 1. $60,000 a year on M SL, paid fortnightly
- 1.Gross per fortnight$2,307.69
- 2.Less the fortnightly threshold− $928.00
- 3.Repayable earnings × 12%Gross is truncated to whole dollars before the threshold comes off.$165.48
- 4.Repayment for the year12% of $35,872, the amount above the threshold.$4,304.64
- Deducted each fortnight$165.48
A second job has no threshold
This is the rule most calculators get wrong. The $24,128 threshold is an allowance against your main job only. Income from any other job is charged at 12% from the first dollar, because you have already used the threshold once.
Example 2. $12,000 from a second job
- 1.Gross from the second job$12,000.00
- 2.Threshold appliedThe threshold belongs to your main job and cannot be used twice.$0.00
- 3.12% of every dollar$1,440.00
- Repayment from the second job$1,440.00
A calculator that applies the threshold to both jobs would report $0.00 here, and you would find out it was wrong when Inland Revenue asked for the difference. The take-home pay calculator on this site models the two jobs separately for exactly this reason.
SLCIR and SLBOR: the two extra deductions
If your payslip shows more than one student loan line, one of them is an extra deduction. There are only two kinds, and the difference between them is who asked for it.
| Code | Who asked for it | Maximum | Can you stop it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLCIR | Inland Revenue, by notice to your employer | 5% | No. Inland Revenue lifts it |
| SLBOR | You, by telling your employer | No cap | Yes, whenever you like |
Both sit on top of the standard 12%, so a payslip with SLCIR at the maximum is deducting 17% of the earnings above the threshold rather than 12%. Both reduce your balance. Neither is a penalty.
Leaving the SL suffix off does not help
A tax code of M rather than M SL stops the deduction, and nothing else. The loan keeps existing, the obligation keeps accruing, and Inland Revenue issues your employer a notice once it notices. What you gain is a few months of cash flow and what you get is the whole amount collected later, often with an SLCIR deduction on top of it. the student loan suffix.
Common questions
How much is a student loan repayment in NZ?
12% of every dollar above $24,128 a year. On $60,000 that is $4,304.64 a year. Your employer deducts it each payday, provided your tax code carries the SL suffix.
Do I repay anything if I earn under $24,128?
Not from salary or wages. Compulsory repayments start above $24,128 a year, so an income entirely below it produces no deduction. You can still pay voluntarily at any time, and the balance does not go away because nothing is coming out.
Does a second job have a student loan threshold?
No. On a second job the deduction is 12% of every dollar, from the first one, with no threshold. The threshold belongs to your main job. Giving it twice would under-collect, which is why Inland Revenue does not allow it.
What does SLCIR mean on my payslip?
A Commissioner-directed extra deduction. Inland Revenue has instructed your employer to take more than the standard rate, usually because you are behind. It is capped at 5% of earnings and sits on top of the 12%. Only Inland Revenue can change it.
What does SLBOR mean on my payslip?
A borrower-elected extra repayment. You asked for it, it is deducted on top of the standard 12%, there is no cap, and you can stop it whenever you like. That last point is the whole difference between SLBOR and SLCIR.
Why was a repayment deducted when I earn under $24,128 a year?
Because the threshold is applied per pay period. One week above $464.00 triggers a deduction even if your year finishes below $24,128. Inland Revenue can issue a repayment deduction exemption to full-time students who expect to stay under the annual figure. student loan repayment threshold are set out in full.
Where these figures come from
2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.
Related
- student loan repayment calculatorYour repayment per pay period, and years to clear
- student loan repayment thresholdWeekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly figures
- the student loan suffixM SL and ME SL, and what the suffix switches on
- how to read a New Zealand payslipWhere SL, SLCIR and SLBOR appear
- New Zealand PAYE tax ratesThe deduction that sits above this one
- take-home pay calculatorLoan repayment alongside every other deduction