Tax Code SB and SB SL

The secondary code for a total income up to $15,600. A flat 12.25% on every dollar the job pays, or 24.25% once the student loan suffix is attached.

Tax code SB goes on a job that is not your highest-earning one, when your total income from every source is $15,600 a year or less. Payroll deducts a flat 12.25% of every dollar, which is 10.5% income tax plus the 1.75% ACC earners' levy.

What SB and SB SL actually withhold

The rate Inland Revenue publishes for SB is already two rates added together, which is why it matches no figure in the tax bracket table. Add the student loan suffix and the deduction almost doubles, because the loan rate does not scale with how little you earn.

10.5%income tax

1.75%ACC earners' levy

12.25%deducted on code SB

10.5%income tax

1.75%ACC earners' levy

12%student loan

24.25%deducted on code SB SL

Both figures apply from the first dollar. A secondary code has no tax-free step, because your main job has already used the 10.5% band on your first $15,600. The student loan line is not tax and is never refunded, it reduces your loan balance instead.

The codes either side of this one

The codes either side of this one
Code	Who it is for	Rate
SBthis page	Total income up to $15,600	12.25%
S	$15,601 – $53,500	19.25%
SH	$53,501 – $78,100	31.75%

The band in the middle column is your total income from every source added together, not what this job pays. SB is the narrowest band on the scale, which is why it is the code most often chosen in error.

Every New Zealand tax code, in one table: all tax codes and rates.

Who tax code SB is for

Two conditions, and almost every SB mistake is a misreading of the second one:

This is not your highest-earning source of income. SB is a secondary code. Your main job keeps M or ME, and every job after it takes a secondary code of its own.
Your total income from all sources is $15,600 or less. Add every job together, plus any taxable benefit, ACC weekly compensation or pension. A job paying $4,000 does not get SB because $4,000 is under $15,600. It gets SB only if your total is under $15,600. Earn $20,000 elsewhere and the same job is coded S.

In practice SB fits a narrow group: someone working two small part-time jobs that add to less than $15,600 a year, or someone who started work partway through the tax year. If you have a New Zealand student loan that is not fully repaid, the code is SB SL.

What this job pays you on code SB

Income from this job

Tax code

SBTotal income up to $15,600

Your result

Gross: $70,000.00
PAYE tax: − $7,350.00
ACC levy: − $1,225.00
KiwiSaver: − $2,450.00
Take-home: $58,975.00

You keep 84.3% of your gross pay.

Enter what this job pays, not your total income. The 12.25% rate already contains the 1.75% ACC earners' levy, and KiwiSaver is shown at the 3.5% default. A student loan would add 12% of the gross on top.

Example 1. $180.00 a week on SB

1.Gross pay from this job for the week$9,360 a year from this job alone$180.00
2.PAYE at 12.25%10.5% income tax with the ACC earners' levy already inside it− $22.05
3.KiwiSaver at 3.5%− $6.30
Into your account$151.65

Example 2. $400.00 a fortnight on SB SL

1.Gross pay from this job for the fortnight$10,400 a year from this job alone$400.00
2.PAYE at 12.25%10.5% income tax with the ACC earners' levy already inside it− $49.00
3.Student loan at 12%Every dollar. The repayment threshold belongs to your main job− $48.00
4.KiwiSaver at 3.5%− $14.00
Into your account$289.00

The second example loses $97.00 of its $400.00 to Inland Revenue, which is 24.25% of the gross. The student loan line is larger than the tax line, because the 12% repayment rate does not fall with income and the $24,128 threshold belongs to the main job. Both examples assume the 3.5% KiwiSaver rate.

SB is the wrong code for you if…

Your total income across every job is more than $15,600. This is the common case. The code is S at 19.25%, or higher again. Read the band off the total, never off what this job pays.
This is your only job. A single job is main income and uses M or ME. Those climb through the brackets, so they collect the right amount as your income grows. SB never adjusts.
You picked it because the pay is small.The size of this job's pay is not the test and never has been. The test is your total.
You have a student loan being repaid. The code is SB SL. Leaving the suffix off collects nothing during the year and does not reduce the balance.
You invoice for the work. Schedular payments use WT, where you elect the rate yourself.

What happens at the end-of-year square-up

After 31 March, Inland Revenue adds every job together, taxes the total through the progressive bands, then subtracts everything withheld. SB is the secondary code that produces a bill most often, and the reason is structural rather than bad luck.

SB withholds 10.5% of income tax on every dollar, which is only correct while your total stays inside the 10.5% bracket. Take a main job of $14,000 and a second job of $9,000. The total of $23,000 sits well past $15,600, so SB was the wrong code all year. Income tax of $2,415.00 was withheld against $2,933.00 genuinely due, leaving about $518.00 to pay.

Nothing warns you during the year. Payroll applies the code it was given, the money looks right on every payslip, and the shortfall appears once in the assessment. Changing your code stops it from that pay run on, and settles nothing that has already happened. Which tax code am I? checks the total for you.

Common questions

What is the SB tax code?

SB is the secondary code for a second job when your total income from every source is $15,600 a year or less. Payroll deducts a flat 12.25% of every dollar the job pays, which is 10.5% income tax plus the 1.75% ACC earners' levy. It is the lowest secondary rate there is.

What is the SB SL tax code?

SB SL is code SB with the student loan suffix. PAYE stays at 12.25%, and the suffix adds 12% of every dollar the job pays. With no repayment threshold on a second job, the deduction is 24.25% from the first dollar, which is close to double what SB alone takes.

When should I use tax code SB?

Only when your total income from every source, all jobs added together, is $15,600 a year or less. That is roughly $300 a week across everything you earn. Most people who reach for SB belong on S, because the band comes from the total and not from what the second job pays.

What is the difference between SB and S?

The band, not the mechanism. SB covers a total up to $15,600 at 12.25%. S covers $15,601 to $53,500 at 19.25%. Using SB when your total says S under-withholds 7% of the second job's pay, and Inland Revenue collects the difference after 31 March.

Is SB the same as the M tax code?

No. M is a main-income code that climbs through the progressive brackets as you earn more. SB is a flat 12.25% on every dollar of a second job and never climbs. They share a starting rate and nothing else.

Will I get a tax bill if I am on SB?

You will if your total finished above $15,600. SB withholds 10.5% of income tax, so income that belonged at 17.5% or higher was taxed at the lowest rate all year. Nothing is charged as you go, and the shortfall lands in the assessment after 31 March.

Where these figures come from

2026–27 tax year (1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027). Last verified 30 July 2026.

Secondary taxWhy the rate is flat, and what the square-up does
Tax code S. 19.25%$15,601 – $53,500
Which tax code am I?Five questions, one answer
The SL suffix12% of every dollar on a second job
Tax bracketsWhere the 10.5% in code SB comes from
All tax codesEvery code and rate in one table