Bonus tax calculator: what your bonus takes home
Put in the bonus and your regular pay. The calculator finds the extra pay rate Inland Revenue's method gives the whole bonus, takes off PAYE, the ACC levy, KiwiSaver and any student loan, and shows what you receive. It also shows when more tax is deducted than the year really owes, which comes back after 31 March.
Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.
The extra pay rate takes about $183 more than the tax and levy the year really owes on this lump sum, because the whole sum is taxed at the rate of its top dollar. If salary or wages are your only income and your pay for the year is as shown, Inland Revenue's income tax assessment after 31 March refunds it.
| Bonus or lump sum | $10,000 |
|---|---|
| Your regular pay as a year | $72,000 |
| With the lump sum added | $82,000 |
| Extra pay rate (tax plus ACC levy) | 34.75% |
| PAYE and ACC levy | -$3,475 |
| KiwiSaver at 3.5% | -$350 |
| Student loan at 12% | None |
| You receive | $6,175 |
| Tax and levy the year really owes on it | $3,292 |
| Deducted over that, back after 31 March | $183 |
- Inland Revenue's extra pay method for a main job on an M or ME tax code, 2026/27 rates. A secondary tax code works differently.
- Redundancy pay has no ACC levy and no KiwiSaver deducted, so this calculator overstates the deductions on it.
- KiwiSaver goes into your own account, and a student loan deduction repays your loan: neither is tax.
Your Career, on the Career and Timesheets plan. Your account records the bonus and the date it is paid in Pay in Your Career, after asking, alongside your salary and rises.
How a bonus is taxed
A bonus, back pay or other lump sum paid with your wages is taxed by Inland Revenue's extra pay method, not at your usual PAYE rate. Your employer adds up your gross pay for the four weeks before the payment and multiplies it by 13 (or takes a month's pay times 12 if you are paid monthly), adds the lump sum, and finds the row that total falls in. For 2026/27 the rates, including the 1.75% ACC earners' levy, are 12.25% up to $15,600, 19.25% to $53,500, 31.75% to $78,100, 34.75% to $156,641, 33% to $180,000 and 39% above. That one rate is taken from the whole lump sum.
KiwiSaver and student loan
KiwiSaver contributions come off lump sums at your usual rate, except redundancy pay and a few others, and go into your own KiwiSaver account. A student loan takes 12% of the lump sum when your regular pay is above the repayment threshold of $24,128 a year ($464 a week); when it is below, your employer takes 12% of what the pay period's total is over the threshold. Neither is tax: one is your savings, the other repays your loan. Our article on reading your payslip shows where each deduction appears.
Why tax can come back at the end of the year
The extra pay rate is the rate of the lump sum's top dollar, applied to all of it. When the bonus pushes your income across a threshold, part of it is really taxed at the lower rate, so too much is deducted. In the example, a $10,000 bonus on a $72,000 salary is taxed at 34.75%, $3,475, but the year's tax and levy only rise by $3,292, because $6,100 of the bonus falls below $78,100, where the rate is 30%. Inland Revenue works out each person's tax after the year ends on 31 March, and if salary or wages are your only income, the income tax assessment shows a refund of the difference. A bonus that sits wholly inside one band has no difference.
What the calculator does not cover
It assumes your main job, on an M or ME tax code. Lump sums on a secondary tax code use that code's starting point, and redundancy pay has no ACC levy and no KiwiSaver deducted. If you are weighing a bonus in a job offer rather than receiving one, our article on valuing bonus and commission in an offer covers that.
Questions
How much tax will I pay on my bonus in NZ?
Your employer uses Inland Revenue's extra pay rate: your last four weeks' pay times 13, plus the bonus, sets one rate for the whole bonus. On a $72,000 salary a $10,000 bonus is taxed at 34.75%, including the ACC levy, before KiwiSaver and any student loan.
Why is my bonus taxed so much?
The whole bonus is taxed at the rate of its top dollar, and the ACC levy, KiwiSaver and any student loan come off too. If the bonus crosses a tax threshold, some of that is too much, and it comes back after the tax year ends.
Do I get bonus tax back at the end of the year?
Sometimes. If the extra pay rate took more than the year's tax really is, and salary or wages are your only income, Inland Revenue's income tax assessment after 31 March refunds the difference. The calculator shows how much that is.
Is KiwiSaver taken off a bonus?
Yes, at your usual contribution rate, because a bonus is salary or wages. Redundancy pay is one of the few lump sums KiwiSaver is not deducted from.
What happens when I save my bonus?
Your account records the bonus, before tax and with the date it is paid, in Pay in Your Career, after asking. Your Career is part of the Career and Timesheets plan.
Sources
- Inland Revenue: ACC earners' levy rates.
- Inland Revenue: calculate PAYE for a lump sum payment.
- Inland Revenue: KiwiSaver employee contributions.
- Inland Revenue: lump sum payments.
- Inland Revenue: what happens at the end of the tax year.
More free tools: see all the calculators.