New Zealand Income Tax (2026): Residence, Rates and Filing

Tax residence: 183 days or a permanent place of abode

Inland Revenue says tax residency status determines what taxes a person pays in New Zealand. Tax residency is different from immigration status, which decides whether a person can stay in New Zealand and what they can do there. A person becomes a tax resident when the first of two things happens: they have been in New Zealand for more than 183 days in any 12-month period (unless they are a non-resident visitor), or they have a permanent place of abode in New Zealand. Inland Revenue defines a non-resident visitor as someone who visits New Zealand for up to 275 days total in any 18-month period and meets further conditions listed on its page. Parts of days count as whole days, the 183 days do not need to follow each other, and residency is backdated to the first of the 183 days. A permanent place of abode is a place where a person usually lives in New Zealand; owning it is not required.

ird.govt.nz: Tax residency status for individuals

Income tax rates for individuals

Inland Revenue says New Zealand has progressive or gradual tax rates that increase as income increases, based on total income for the tax year, which runs from 1 April to 31 March. The table on its page headed "From 1 April 2025" gives these rates for each dollar of income: 10.5% on 0 - $15,600; 17.5% on $15,601 - $53,500; 30% on $53,501 - $78,100; 33% on $78,101 - $180,000; and 39% on $180,001 and over. The page prints no end date for this table; the previous table is headed "From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025". Some income, such as salaries and wages, is taxed before payment; other income, such as self-employment, is not. With more than one source of income, a person pays secondary tax, which depends on the secondary tax code given to the employer or payer.

ird.govt.nz: Tax rates for individuals ird.govt.nz: Individual income tax return - IR3

Worldwide income for tax residents

A New Zealand tax resident will generally pay tax on worldwide income, including overseas income that is not brought into New Zealand or has had tax deducted by the other country or territory. If tax is paid on the same income in 2 countries, a foreign tax credit is usually available. Examples of overseas income are interest from overseas bank accounts, rental income from property owned overseas, salary and wages paid from overseas, and foreign pensions. A person who becomes a resident partway through the year only declares overseas income from that date. A person who was a tax resident for only part of the tax year shows income earned as a resident and as a non-resident separately in the individual tax return. If New Zealand has a double tax agreement with the person's country or territory, it may affect how income is taxed.

ird.govt.nz: Tax for New Zealand tax residents ird.govt.nz: Overseas income

The temporary tax exemption for new residents

Inland Revenue says transitional tax residents can be temporarily exempt from tax on most types of overseas income, for about 4 years after they become a New Zealand tax resident. A transitional tax resident is a new migrant or New Zealander returning home who qualified as a tax resident on or after 1 April 2006 and was not a tax resident at any time in the 10 years before. Exempt income includes overseas interest, dividends, foreign investment fund income and rent. Income earned overseas from employment or personal services is not exempt, although a double tax agreement may give full or partial relief in some cases. Lump sum withdrawals of foreign superannuation funds have their own 4-year exemption rule. An eligible person qualifies automatically and can only get the exemption once. It ends earlier in some cases, such as applying for Working for Families tax credits.

ird.govt.nz: Temporary tax exemption

IRD number, tax code and PAYE

An IRD number is a tax identification number needed in most cases when earning income in New Zealand. There is no cost to apply for one. A person who has arrived can use the new arrival process; if approved, the number arrives by text or email in 2 days. A visa holder must apply by the visa's final date to arrive in New Zealand to use it; after that date the person applies as "living in New Zealand". Inland Revenue's IRD number page says that without one when starting to earn income, a person pays a higher tax rate of 45%. A person starting work gives the employer the IRD number and tax code on an IR330 form; the employer deducts pay as you earn (PAYE), which covers income tax and an ACC earners' levy. Someone with only New Zealand employment income, on the correct tax code, will usually not need to file a return.

ird.govt.nz: When you need an IRD number ird.govt.nz: New arrival to New Zealand - IRD number application ird.govt.nz: Tax for New Zealand tax residents

Filing an income tax return

Inland Revenue says a person must complete an individual income tax return (IR3) at the end of the tax year if they received more than $200 (before tax) in income it has not been told about. A person who is not a New Zealand tax resident files an IR3NR instead. The return is due by 7 July unless the person has a tax agent or an extension of time. A person with income from overseas files an IR3 every tax year and completes the overseas income summary IR1261. Inland Revenue also says that a person with the 4-year temporary tax exemption does not need to include foreign-sourced interest income in the IR3 or declare dividends from a foreign source, but must still include income from an overseas employer. Including income that would have been covered by the exemption in an IR3 ends the exemption early, and that choice cannot be revoked, although in limited situations Inland Revenue may be able to consider a request to amend that return.

ird.govt.nz: Individual income tax return - IR3 ird.govt.nz: Overseas income ird.govt.nz: Tax for New Zealand tax residents ird.govt.nz: Temporary tax exemption

ACC earners' levy

Inland Revenue says the ACC earners' levy is charged at a flat rate each year and the amounts include GST. For 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 the rate is $1.75 per $100 (1.75%). The levy is deducted on earnings up to an annually prescribed maximum; for that year the maximum earnings are $156,641 and the maximum levy payable is $2,741.22. The same page prints $1.83 per $100 (1.83%) for 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2028.

ird.govt.nz: ACC earners' levy rates

What this page does not cover

This page does not cover goods and services tax, tax on businesses, companies or property sales (including the bright-line test), the further non-resident visitor conditions and the seasonal-worker residence rules, secondary tax code rates, resident withholding tax on interest, provisional tax, portfolio investment entity rates, the foreign investment fund rules and thresholds, the controlled foreign company, foreign superannuation and trust rules, how a particular country's double tax agreement applies, Working for Families, immigration visa conditions, or how the rules apply to one person's situation. Check the official pages for them.