KiwiSaver at work in 2026: the new rates, your employer's share and how to check it

What changed in 2026

Budget 2025 set the default contribution rate to rise from 3% to 4% in two steps. The first came on 1 April 2026: if you contributed at the default 3%, your rate moved to 3.5% automatically, and so did your employer's. Inland Revenue says the new rate applied to every pay day from 1 April, so a pay period that straddled the date was deducted at 3.5% in full. If you already contributed more than 3%, your rate did not change, but an employer paying 3% had to move to 3.5%.

The second step is already law. The Taxation (Budget Measures) Act 2025 raises the default rate and the employer's compulsory rate to 4% from 1 April 2028.

Two changes matter to younger workers. Since 1 July 2025, 16 and 17 year olds can get the government contribution. Since 1 April 2026, an employer must also contribute for an employee aged 16 or 17 who is a member and contributes from their pay; before then, compulsory employer contributions started at 18.

Your rate and your employer's

As an employee you can contribute 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your gross pay. For KiwiSaver, gross pay includes overtime, bonuses, commission and allowances, but not redundancy pay. Your employer must contribute at least 3.5% of the same gross pay while you are 16 or over, under 65 and contributing from your pay.

If 3.5% is too much for now, you can apply in myIR for a temporary rate reduction to 3%, for 3 months to a year. Inland Revenue sends an acceptance letter with the start and end dates, which you show your employer. You can apply again back to back, but not while you have a savings suspension. Your employer can choose to drop its own contribution to 3% to match. On $65,000 a year, 3% instead of 3.5% leaves $12.50 more a fortnight in your pay; if your employer matches, $12.50 a fortnight less goes in from them, before tax.

ESCT: why less than 3.5% reaches your account

Your employer's contribution is taxed first. The tax is employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT), and its rate depends on your salary or wages from that employer in the previous tax year plus its gross contributions for you, or an estimate if you did not work there for the whole of that year:

A worked example, on $65,000 a year paid fortnightly, with the same salary from the same employer the year before:

Over a year that is $3,871.40, before the government contribution.

Total remuneration: is it coming out of your pay?

The KiwiSaver Act's starting point is that compulsory employer contributions are paid on top of your gross salary or wages (section 101B). You and your employer can agree otherwise, in a total remuneration package with the employer's contribution inside the figure, and Inland Revenue says your take-home pay is then lower. The duty of good faith applies to that bargaining, and your pay, leaving the employer's contribution aside, must still be at least the minimum wage.

The rate rise shows the difference. Take a $65,000 package that includes the employer's contribution. At 3.5%, the salary inside it is about $62,802 and the contribution about $2,198. At 3%, the salary was about $63,107. If the package figure stayed the same, the rise moved about $305 a year from salary into KiwiSaver.

To tell which you have, look in your employment agreement for words such as "total remuneration", "package" or "inclusive of KiwiSaver"; multiply the gross pay on a payslip by your pay periods in a year and compare it with the figure in your agreement; or ask payroll in writing. Comparing a salary with a whole package is covered in salary versus total package.

Checking your payslip and myIR

On your payslip, the KiwiSaver deduction should be 3.5% of the gross pay for the period, unless you chose another rate or have a rate reduction. If it shows the employer's contribution, check it is at least 3.5% of the same gross pay before ESCT. Working out the rest of the deductions is covered in how to work out your take-home pay.

Employers send both contributions to Inland Revenue. In myIR you can see what was deducted on each pay date, with your contribution and your employer's arriving on the same day. They can take up to a month to show, and a late or wrong filing by your employer can delay them or change the amounts. If one is still missing after that, ask your employer, then Inland Revenue. Your balance and returns are with your provider.

Your Career keeps your pay record with your employer's KiwiSaver rate, shows the whole package a year with the employer's share on top, and in May and June reminds you that the KiwiSaver year ends on 30 June.

Government contribution changes

From the year that started on 1 July 2025, the government contributes 25 cents for each dollar you put in between 1 July and 30 June, up to $260.72 a year. Before that it was 50 cents, up to $521.43. To get the full amount, you contribute $1,042.86 of your own money in the year; your employer's contributions do not count. You need to be aged 16 to 65, and if your taxable income is over $180,000 you get none. On $65,000 at 3.5%, you put in $2,275 a year from your pay, enough for the full $260.72.

Your provider claims it after 30 June. Inland Revenue suggests checking your account after the end of July, and it may take until the end of August. If you are short of $1,042.86 near the end of June, a voluntary payment made by 30 June counts.

Keep your pay and KiwiSaver on record