The IR330C Tax Rate Notification
The IR330C tells the person paying you how much tax to withhold from a schedular payment. You need one for each source of contracting income, the tax code on it is always WT, and you give it to the payer rather than to Inland Revenue. Without it, tax comes out at 45%.
What the IR330C asks for
Three sections, and only one of them takes any thought. The form is two pages of entry with a flowchart and the activity table behind it.
- Your details. Full name and IRD number. If you do not have an IRD number, apply for one first. The payer cannot process the form without it.
- Your tax rate, and your activity number. Two separate boxes. The rate goes in to one decimal place, for example 20.0. The activity number comes from the table below and tells the payer what kind of work is being paid for. The tax code box is pre-filled with WT, because there is no other option.
- The declaration. Sign and date it. Leaving sections 1 or 3 incomplete is treated the same as giving no form at all, so an unsigned form triggers the 45% rate.
One form covers one payer. If you contract to three businesses you complete three, and the rate you choose does not have to be the same on each.
Every activity number and its standard rate
This is the table on page 3 of the form. Find the row that describes the work, put its number in section 2, and use the standard rate unless you are electing a different one. The final column is what applies if you file no form at all.
| No. | Activity | Standard | No form |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ACC personal service rehabilitation payments paid under the Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Compensation Act 2001 | 10.5% | 45% |
| 2 | Agricultural contracts for maintenance, development or other work on farming or agricultural land | 15% | 45% |
| 3 | Agricultural, horticultural or viticultural contracts substantially for the supply of labour on land in connection with fruit crops, orchards, vegetables or vineyards | 15% | 45% |
| 4 | Apprentice jockeys or drivers | 15% | 45% |
| 5 | Cleaning office, business, institution or other non-residential premises, or cleaning or laundering plant, vehicles or furniture | 20% | 45% |
| 6 | Commissions to insurance agents, sub-agents and salespeople | 20% | 45% |
| 7 | Company directors (fees) | 33% | 45% |
| 8 | Contracts wholly or substantially for labour only in the building industry | 20% | 45% |
| 9 | Demonstrating goods or appliances | 25% | 45% |
| 10 | Entertainers (New Zealand resident only) such as lecturers, presenters, participants in sporting events, and radio, television, stage and film performers | 20% | 45% |
| 11 | Examiners (fees payable) | 33% | 45% |
| 12 | Fishing boat work for profit-share, supply of labour only | 20% | 45% |
| 13 | Forestry or bush work of all kinds, or flax planting or cutting | 15% | 45% |
| 14 | Freelance contributions to newspapers or journals, or for radio, television or stage productions | 25% | 45% |
| 15 | Gardening, grass or hedge cutting, or weed or vermin destruction for an office, business or institution | 20% | 45% |
| 16 | Honoraria | 33% | 45% |
| 17 | Modelling | 20% | 45% |
| 18 | Non-resident entertainers and professional sportspeople visiting New Zealand | 20% | N/A |
| 19 | Payment by a labour hire business to any person performing work or services directly for a client, under a labour hire arrangement | 20% | 45% |
| 20 | Caretaking or acting as a guard, mail contracting, milk delivery, refuse removal, street or road cleaning, or transport of school children | 15% | 45% |
| 21 | Proceeds from non-retail sales of eels, greenstone, sphagnum moss or whitebait, or of wild deer, pigs or goats or parts of these animals | 25% | 45% |
| 22 | Public office holders (fees) | 33% | 45% |
| 23 | Shearing or drowning | 15% | 45% |
| 24 | Television, video or film on-set and off-set production processes (New Zealand residents only) | 20% | 45% |
| 25 | Voluntary schedular payments | 20% | 45% |
| 26 | Non-resident contractor, and not a company | 15% | 45% |
| 27 | Non-resident contractor, and a company | 15% | 20% |
Descriptions are abbreviated from the form. For the full legal wording see schedule 4 of the Income Tax Act 2007. The most common rates in plain terms sit on schedular payments.
Electing a rate other than the standard one
The standard rate is a default, not an obligation. This is the part of the system with no equivalent on a payslip: an employee cannot choose how much PAYE comes out, and a contractor can.
- The floor is 10%. For a non-resident on a temporary work or entry visa it is 15%. There is no rule against electing a rate well above the standard one, and people expecting a large year often do.
- Below the floor needs a tailored tax rate. Apply in myIR or on form IR23BS. The case for one is usually deductible expenses large enough that the standard rate would over-withhold all year. Show the payer the original certificate, and if you stop using the tailored rate you give them a fresh IR330C.
- No deduction at all requires a certificate of exemption. Form IR332, or apply in myIR. A resident contractor paid by a labour hire business under a labour hire arrangement cannot use one.
- A prescribed withholding rate overrides your choice. Inland Revenue can set one where there is existing tax debt, and the payer must use the rate on the certificate rather than anything on your form.
$4,000 invoiced, labour-only building work at 20%
- 1.Schedular payment on your invoice$4,000.00
- 2.Tax withheld at 20%Activity 8, labour-only building work, standard rate− $800.00
- 3.ACC earners' levyNothing comes out here. ACC invoices you directly instead− $0.00
- 4.KiwiSaverNothing comes out here. You pay your scheme directly if you contribute− $0.00
- 5.Student loanNothing comes out here. Your repayment is assessed when you file− $0.00
- Paid to you$3,200.00
What filing no form costs on the same invoice
The same $4,000 payment with no IR330C on file loses $1,800.00 instead of $800.00. That is $1,000.00 of extra withholding on one invoice, from a form that takes a few minutes.
The money is not lost, it is prepaid. You get the difference back when you file your return, which may be more than a year later. The cost is cash flow, and for a contractor that is the cost that bites.
What the payer does with the form
- They keep it. They do not send it in. The completed IR330C stays with their business records for 7 years after the last schedular payment they make to you.
- They withhold at the rate on the form and declare it on their employment information return, using the WT code.
- They deduct nothing else from the payment. No ACC earners' levy, no KiwiSaver, no student loan repayment. ACC invoices you directly instead, which is stated on the form itself.
- A deduction notice cannot take more than 50% of the gross. Where Inland Revenue has issued one to recover tax owed, the total withheld including that deduction is capped at 50% of the payment.
IR330 or IR330C
One letter apart, and they are not interchangeable. The test is whether you are an employee or a contractor for that piece of work, not what you call yourself.
- Paid salary or wages, on someone's payroll. That is the IR330, and it declares a tax code such as M, ME or S.
- Invoicing for work on the activity list above. That is the IR330C, and it declares a rate.
- Both, from different payers. Entirely normal, and you file both forms with the people they belong to. Your employee job keeps its own code, and the contract work runs on WT separately.
One more difference matters at the end of the year. PAYE on an employee's wages is usually the final amount. Tax withheld from a schedular payment is not, because your expenses have not been counted yet. Schedular payments covers what that means when you file.
Common questions
What is an IR330C form?
The IR330C is the tax rate notification for contractors. You give it to whoever pays you for schedular payments, and it tells them two things: the activity number for the work, and the rate to withhold. The tax code is always WT. You complete one for each source of contracting income.
What tax rate should I put on my IR330C?
Either the standard rate for your activity, or a rate you choose. A chosen rate must be at least 10%, or at least 15% for a non-resident on a temporary work or entry visa, and it is entered to one decimal place. Going below the floor needs a tailored tax rate from Inland Revenue on form IR23BS.
What happens if I do not give my payer an IR330C?
Tax comes out at the no-notification rate of 45%, which is higher than every standard activity rate on the form. The one exception is a non-resident contractor that is a company, where the rate is 20%. Handing the form in stops it from the next payment on, and anything already over-withheld comes back when you file.
What is the difference between the IR330 and the IR330C?
The IR330 is for employees and declares a tax code such as M or S. The IR330C is for contractors receiving schedular payments and declares a withholding rate. An employee cannot choose how much PAYE comes out. A contractor chooses the rate, subject to the 10% floor.
Do I send my IR330C to Inland Revenue?
No. Give it to the person paying you. They keep it with their business records for 7 years after the last schedular payment they make to you. Inland Revenue never receives the form itself.
Can I have no tax deducted from schedular payments at all?
Only with a certificate of exemption, applied for in myIR or on form IR332. It is not available to a resident contractor paid by a labour hire business under a labour hire arrangement. Without one the floor is 10%, and 0% is not a rate you can write on the form.
Where these figures come from
- IRD. Tax rate notification for contractors (IR330C)
- IRD. Work out and declare my tax rate for schedular payments
- IRD. What tax code should I use
2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.
Related
- Tax code WTThe code every IR330C declares
- Schedular paymentsWhat counts as one, and what is not deducted
- IR330 tax code declarationThe employee form, and how it differs
- ACC earners' levyInvoiced to you directly, not withheld here
- All tax codesEvery code and rate in one table