Roughly a full-year traineeship, apprentice first-year, or 33h/week at the adult minimum wage. Sits inside the 17.5% bracket and qualifies for full IETC.
On a gross salary of $40,000, you'll keep about $32,024 after PAYE, the ACC earner levy and a 3.5% KiwiSaver contribution (the new minimum from 1 April 2026). Your effective tax rate is around 16.4%, and every additional dollar you earn beyond this point is taxed at your marginal rate of 17.5%.
Estimates only. Excludes secondary tax codes, Working for Families and IETC. For any of those, use the full PAYE calculator or, for refunds, the tax refund estimator.
On a $40,000 salary you pay approximately $5,908 in PAYE income tax for the 2025/26 year, plus $668 in the ACC earner levy. Your effective tax rate (PAYE + ACC) is around 16.4%, and every additional dollar you earn is taxed at your marginal rate of 17.5%.
$40,000 a year works out to about $19.23 per hour gross, assuming a 40-hour week and 52 weeks a year. After PAYE, ACC and a 3.5% KiwiSaver contribution, your take-home is approximately $15.40 an hour.
At the new 3.5% default rate (effective 1 April 2026), you'd contribute about $1,400 a year from a $40,000 salary, and your employer would match at least 3.5% on top. If you choose to lift your rate to 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%, your contribution scales proportionally — but the employer match is capped at 3.5%.
