Tax Code WT

The code for schedular payments. WT is the one tax code where you choose the rate yourself, and the one where three of the five deduction lines on a payslip do not exist.

Tax code WTapplies to schedular payments, which are contract payments on Inland Revenue's schedular activity list. You elect your own withholding rate on an IR330C, from 10% to 100% as a tax resident. Nothing is withheld for the ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver or your student loan.

What WT actually withholds

On every other tax code the rate on your payslip is at least two figures added together. On WT it is one, and the sum below is written out precisely because the missing terms are what make WT different from every code above it in the table.

20%the rate you elected

0%ACC earners' levy

0%student loan

20%withheld from the payment

The 20% is an example, not a rule. It is whatever you wrote on your IR330C. What is fixed is the two zeroes: no 1.75% ACC earners' levy and no 12% student loan deduction come out of a schedular payment. KiwiSaver does not either, because there is no employer to run it.

That makes a WT payment look generous next to a payslip and it is not. An employee on 19.25% has already paid their ACC levy and started their KiwiSaver. A contractor on 20% has paid neither, and both still arrive: ACC invoices you after your first return, and any tax above your elected rate is settled at the same time.

How WT sits against the codes on a payslip

How WT sits against the codes on a payslip
Code	Who it is for	Rate
M	On payroll, with PAYE deducted by your employer	Progressive
WTthis page	You invoice for a schedular activity and elect your own rate	Your choice, min 10%
SB to SA	A second job on payroll, taxed at one flat rate	12.25% to 40.75%

WT is the only one of the three where the number is yours to set, and the only one where the withholding is not trying to be exact.

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

Choosing your rate on total income, not on the contract

The rate you elect is a forecast of what your total income from all sources will be taxed at for the year. Not what this contract pays, and not what one client sends you. Every schedular payment, every other contract, any salary you also earn and any other taxable income are added together in one return at the end of the year, then taxed through the progressive bands.

A contractor expecting $75,000 of income before expenses will owe $14,720.50 of income tax on it, an average of 19.6%. Electing 20% leaves a shortfall to pay when they file. Electing 25% lands close, and expenses then push the result the other way. Neither is wrong, because the withholding is a deposit rather than a final assessment. But the size of the gap is entirely your choice, and it becomes a cash-flow decision rather than a tax one.

10% is the floor for a New Zealand tax resident. A non-resident contractor cannot go below 15%.
100% is the ceiling. Electing a high rate is a legitimate way to avoid a bill, since anything over-withheld comes back as a refund.
A rate below the floor needs a certificate of exemption or a special tax rate certificate from Inland Revenue. The payer cannot agree to it on their own.
Give no IR330C and the payer must withhold 45%. That is the highest rate in this section and it applies from the first payment.

What a schedular payment leaves you

Payment on your invoice

Rate you elected on the IR330C

Payment: $3,000.00
Tax withheld at 20%: − $600.00
ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver, student loan: $0.00
Paid to you: $2,400.00

The three zero lines are the point of this calculator. Nothing is withheld for the ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver or your student loan, so $2,400.00 is not comparable with an employee's take-home pay. ACC invoices you separately, your student loan repayment is assessed when you file, and any tax above 20% of your total income is settled in the same return.

Example 1. A $3,000 invoice with 20% elected

1.Schedular payment on your invoice$3,000.00
2.Tax withheld at 20%The rate this contractor elected on their IR330C− $600.00
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$2,400.00

Example 2. The same $3,000 invoice with no IR330C

1.Schedular payment on your invoice$3,000.00
2.Tax withheld at 45%The no-notification rate, applied because no IR330C was given− $1,350.00
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$1,650.00

The difference between the two is $750.00 on a single invoice, and none of it is a penalty. Both amounts are credited against the same year's tax. What changes is how much of your own money is sitting with Inland Revenue until you file. Neither example deducts the 1.75% ACC earners' levy, KiwiSaver at the 3.5% default or 12% student loan, because a schedular payment carries none of them.

WT is the wrong code for you if…

You are actually an employee.Set hours, a manager, work done on the payer's terms with their equipment. That is employment, whatever the contract is titled, and the code is M on an IR330 with PAYE, KiwiSaver and holiday pay attached.
Your work is not on Inland Revenue's schedular activity list. Contract income outside that list has nothing withheld at all. You invoice in full and pay the tax yourself, usually as provisional tax. schedular payments.
You elected 10% because it was the smallest number. It is a floor, not a recommendation. On $75,000 of income it withholds well under half the tax due, and the remainder is payable in one amount after you file.
You expect ACC cover to be handled for you. It is not. ACC invoices self-employed people directly, based on the income in your return, and the first invoice arrives after your first year.
You have a student loan and are budgeting on the net figure. Nothing is deducted from a schedular payment, so the whole year's repayment obligation is assessed at once.

What happens when you file

WT has no end-of-year square-up in the sense an employee gets one. Nobody reconciles it for you automatically, because Inland Revenue does not know your expenses. You file a return after 31 March, declare your schedular income alongside everything else you earned, deduct allowable business expenses, and the tax is calculated on what is left.

Everything already withheld under WT is credited against that figure. If your elected rate ran ahead of your actual liability, and expenses often make sure it did, the excess is refunded. If it ran behind, the balance is payable. Finish with more than $5,000 of residual income tax and you also enter the provisional tax regime the following year, which turns one annual payment into instalments.

Two other bills arrive from the same return and neither was withheld during the year. ACC sets your levies from the income you declared and invoices you. Your student loan repayment obligation is assessed on the same income, at 12% of everything above $24,128. A contractor who budgeted on the payment net of WT alone has budgeted for one of three obligations.

Common questions

What is the WT tax code in New Zealand?

WT is the code for schedular payments. Contract work on Inland Revenue's schedular activity list, where the payer withholds tax from your invoice but you are not an employee. You choose your own rate on an IR330C, from 10% up to 100% as a New Zealand tax resident.

What rate should I put on my IR330C?

One close to the tax your total income for the year will attract. The floor is 10% for a New Zealand tax resident, 15% for a non-resident contractor, and the ceiling is 100%. Electing the floor when your income sits in the 33% bracket simply leaves the balance to pay when you file.

Does WT deduct ACC, KiwiSaver or student loan?

No, none of the three. Tax is withheld and nothing else. ACC invoices you directly, KiwiSaver contributions go from you to your scheme rather than through payroll, and your student loan repayment is worked out when you file.

What happens if I do not give the payer an IR330C?

The payer must withhold at the no-notification rate of 45%. It is not a penalty and the money is not lost, it is credited against your tax for the year, but it takes far more out of each payment than most contractors owe. Handing in the form fixes the next payment.

Is WT the same as being self-employed?

Not quite. WT describes how tax is collected from a payment, not your status. You can be self-employed with WT withheld by some clients and nothing withheld by others. Either way you file a return, claim expenses and settle the difference. schedular payments.

Can I claim expenses against a schedular payment?

Yes. Withholding is calculated on the gross payment, but you are taxed on your net profit after allowable expenses. That is why a contractor on a 20% election often finishes the year with tax already overpaid, and why the elected rate is a forecast rather than a final figure.

Where these figures come from

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

schedular paymentsWhich activities are on Inland Revenue's list
the IR330 tax code declarationThe employee version, and how the IR330C differs
New Zealand tax codesEvery code and rate in one table
New Zealand tax bracketsWhat your elected rate is trying to match
KiwiSaver contribution ratesWhat a contractor has to arrange for themselves
the New Zealand tax year1 April to 31 March, and when a WT year is settled