Share vesting calculator: when your shares vest and the tax on them
In New Zealand, shares from an employee share scheme are taxed as income when they vest, on their value less anything you paid. A grant of 4,000 RSUs over 4 years with a 12-month cliff, at $12.50 a share, is $50,000, and about $16,500 of income tax at a $120,000 salary, starting with 1,000 shares on 1 November 2026.
Worked out for the example. Change the boxes to make it yours.
| 1 Nov 2026: 1,000 shares vest | $12,500; tax about $4,125 |
|---|---|
| 1 Feb 2027: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 May 2027: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Aug 2027: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Nov 2027: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Feb 2028: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 May 2028: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Aug 2028: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Nov 2028: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Feb 2029: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 May 2029: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Aug 2029: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| 1 Nov 2029: 250 shares vest | $3,125; tax about $1,031 |
| All 4,000 shares, at $12.50 a share | $50,000 |
| Income tax as each part vests, about | $16,500 |
| Yours after that tax | $33,500 |
| Tax year to 31 March 2027: $15,625 on top of $120,000 | tax $5,156 |
| Tax year to 31 March 2028: $12,500 on top of $120,000 | tax $4,125 |
| Tax year to 31 March 2029: $12,500 on top of $120,000 | tax $4,125 |
| Tax year to 31 March 2030: $9,375 on top of $120,000 | tax $3,094 |
| Vested by 7 Oct 2026 | 0 shares: $0 |
| Not yet vested on 7 Oct 2026 | 4,000 shares: $50,000 |
| The next vest | Sunday 1 November 2026: 1,000 shares, $12,500 |
- Income tax only, at the 2026/27 rates for every year, on top of your salary. There is no ACC earners' levy on an employee share scheme benefit.
- Each vest's benefit is treated as received 20 days after it, when your employer reports it, so it is taxed in the tax year that day falls in.
- Your employer may deduct the tax through PAYE; if it does not, the tax is yours to pay at the end of the tax year, and more than $5,000 left to pay can mean provisional tax the next year. If your employer has not given Inland Revenue the benefit's taxable value, file an IR3.
- An exempt employee share scheme, offered to all or almost all staff with limits on its value, is taxed differently and is not covered here.
- A vest falls on the same day of the month as the grant, or the last day of a shorter month. Your plan's own terms decide the exact day, and whether shares are rounded to whole numbers.
Your Career keeps each share and option grant in Incentives with its vesting, and counts what vests in the next 12 months in your pay package, on the Career and Timesheets plan. This calculator does not save the grant: you add it there yourself.
See Your CareerWhen the tax arises
A benefit from an employee share scheme is income from your employment (Income Tax Act 2007, section CE 1(1)(d)). It is taxed on the share scheme taxing date: the first date you hold the shares with no material risk that you will lose them or that their terms will change, or the date they are sold or cancelled, if that comes first (section CE 7B). For shares or RSUs on a vesting schedule, that is usually each vest, because until then leaving the job would forfeit them. The taxable amount is the market value on that date less what you paid (section CE 2). An option is different: you are taxed when you exercise it and hold the shares, on the share price then less the exercise price, not when it vests.
How the calculator works it out
It lays out the schedule the way your grant letter does: nothing before the cliff, the cliff's share at it, then a part every so many months until the whole grant has vested. Each part is valued at the share price you type, as there are no live prices. The benefits are added up for each tax year from 1 April to 31 March and taxed on top of your salary, so a big vest can push some of it into a higher bracket. When your employer reports a benefit, as most do, it is treated as received 20 days after the vest (section CE 2(8) and (9)), so a vest from 12 to 31 March counts in the next tax year. It uses the 2026/27 income tax rates for every year. There is no ACC earners' levy on a share scheme benefit (Accident Compensation Act 2001, section 11(1)(cb)), and the calculator works out income tax only.
Employee deferred shares, from 1 April 2026
For shares issued or transferred on or after 1 April 2026, an unlisted company can designate the shares it gives staff as employee deferred shares, and must tell you and Inland Revenue within 20 days (section EA 4B). The tax then waits for a liquidity event: the company listing on a stock exchange, or the shares being sold, transferred or cancelled. The value taxed is the value at that time, less what you paid, so tick the box and the calculator shows the tax as if it all happened in one tax year at the price you typed.
Paying the tax and leaving early
Your employer may deduct the tax through PAYE. If it does not, the tax is yours to pay at the end of the tax year, more than $5,000 left to pay can mean provisional tax the next year, and if your employer has not given Inland Revenue the benefit's value, you file an IR3 return. Shares not yet vested on the day you leave usually depend on your plan's leaver rules, so the calculator shows what has vested by a date you choose and what is still to come. Our bonus tax calculator works out the tax on a cash bonus, and the article on salary against the total package covers valuing shares alongside pay.
Questions
How are RSUs taxed in NZ?
As income from your employment when they vest and you hold the shares free of forfeiture, on their market value then. They are taxed on top of your salary at your income tax rate, and there is no ACC earners' levy on them.
When are employee share options taxed in New Zealand?
When you exercise them and hold the shares, not when they vest. The taxable amount is the share price at exercise less the exercise price you pay.
Do I pay tax again when I sell my employee shares?
The benefit is taxed once, at vesting. If you hold the shares on revenue account, that benefit is added to what they cost you (section CE 2(4)). Whether a later gain is taxed depends on why you hold the shares, which this calculator does not work out.
What are employee deferred shares?
From 1 April 2026, an unlisted company can designate shares it gives staff as employee deferred shares. The tax waits until the company lists or the shares are sold, transferred or cancelled, and is worked on their value then.
What happens to unvested shares if I resign?
That depends on your plan's leaver rules. The calculator shows what has vested by the date you choose and what is still to come, so you can see what is at stake before you set a leaving date.
Can I save this to my account?
Not from this page. Your Career keeps each grant in Incentives with its vesting, and counts what vests in the next 12 months in your pay package, on the Career and Timesheets plan. You add the grant there yourself.
Sources
- Accident Compensation Act 2001, s 11.
- Income Tax Act 2007, ss CE 1, CE 2, CE 7B and EA 4B.
- Inland Revenue: employee share scheme rules.
- Inland Revenue: provisional tax.
- Inland Revenue: receiving employee share scheme benefits.
- Inland Revenue: tax on employee deferred shares.
- Taxation (Annual Rates for 2025-26, Compliance Simplification, and Remedial Measures) Act 2026, ss 10 and 51.
- Inland Revenue: tax rates for individuals.
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