Turn a salary offer into a cash budget
An annual salary is not the amount available for rent, groceries or saving. This take-home calculator starts with gross employment pay and deducts estimated income tax, the ACC earner levy, student loan repayments where selected, and employee KiwiSaver contributions. Its first result is the average cash amount for your chosen pay frequency. The annual result and deduction breakdown remain visible so you can reconcile the calculation instead of relying on one unexplained number.
Use the salary stated before tax and employee deductions. Do not enter a figure that already has KiwiSaver or PAYE removed. If an offer describes a total remuneration package, ask which part is taxable cash salary and which part covers employer contributions or other benefits. Entering the whole package as cash salary could overstate both the expected deductions and the amount available to spend. This tool does not interpret an employment contract for you.
A complete worked budget example
Consider annual gross pay of $50,000, tax code M, a 3.5% employee KiwiSaver contribution and no student loan. Income tax is $7,658 and the earner levy is $875. Employee KiwiSaver is $1,750. Subtracting those three items leaves $39,717 for the year. Dividing by 12 gives $3,309.75 as an average monthly amount. Dividing by 52 gives $763.79 as an average weekly amount. These are different views of the same annual cash, not separate entitlements.
Now add a main-job student loan using the prefilled $24,128 threshold. The annual repayment estimate is $3,104.64, leaving $36,612.36 after the other deductions in this example. The $24,128 threshold is verified in section 2.2 of the IRD Payroll Calculations and Business Rules Specification for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The example shows why two workers on the same salary can have different spending money even though their income tax is identical.
Choosing a useful frequency
Choose the frequency that matches your employer's usual payroll when checking a payslip. Choose monthly when building a monthly household budget. Weekly multiplied by four does not equal a calendar month: twelve four-week periods cover only 48 weeks. For a fortnightly budget, allocate annual costs across 26 periods rather than assuming two paydays in every month. Keeping those conventions consistent is often more useful than displaying additional decimal places.
The calculator assumes steady earnings throughout the year. A person starting a job midway through the tax year may have a different final annual tax position from someone earning that salary for the full year. Overtime, unpaid leave and bonuses also change the pattern. The result should therefore be read as a steady-state estimate, not a forecast of the exact next bank deposit or an entitlement to a tax refund.
Sponsor this slot →
Request sponsor detailsInquiry only; it does not reserve a placement or charge you.
Comparing a pay rise
Run the existing salary first and write down its net annual result. Change only the salary to the proposed amount, keeping tax code, contribution rate and frequency constant. The difference between net results is the estimated extra spending money. This is more reliable than multiplying the gross increase by a single guessed tax percentage, particularly if the increase crosses a bracket threshold or the ACC earnings cap.
For example, a $1,000 gross increase does not imply $1,000 of extra annual cash. Part can go to income tax, ACC, student loan and KiwiSaver. KiwiSaver remains your retirement saving rather than disappearing as tax, so it may be useful to compare both cash and contributions. The calculator deliberately keeps those categories separate. A household can then decide whether the extra cash changes its budget without confusing immediate liquidity with long-term saving.
Understanding the tax-code choice
M is the ordinary main-job option in this model. ME includes an independent earner tax credit on the assumption that you satisfy its eligibility rules. M SL and ME SL add student loan deductions. Do not choose ME simply because its result is larger. Confirm your actual eligibility and code with IRD. The tool does not assess a partner's circumstances, benefit receipts or all other income sources.
Employee KiwiSaver defaults to 3.5% for 2026/27. Higher rates reduce current cash while increasing contributions. The 3% option is included for an approved temporary rate reduction, and zero represents a scenario in which no employee contribution is deducted. Neither selection establishes a right to a reduction or suspension. Employer contributions and ESCT can be examined in the separate contribution calculator; they are not treated as money paid into your bank account here.
What to check before committing the result
The model excludes child support, union fees, insurance taken through payroll, salary sacrifice and voluntary extra loan repayments. Add those to your budget separately if they apply. The ACC component uses 1.75% with a $156,641 cap; it does not estimate a self-employed invoice. Annual tax is calculated using progressive brackets and then allocated across the selected number of periods, so exact payroll rounding can differ.
Before agreeing to a rent, loan payment or savings target, compare the estimate with several ordinary payslips and leave room for irregular costs. Keep an annual view for insurance, vehicle maintenance and other bills that do not arrive with each payday. If a material difference remains unexplained, ask payroll for the components of its calculation rather than assuming the net figure alone identifies an error.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my payslip differ?
Irregular pay, per-period rounding, other deductions or a different tax code can change the deposit. Compare gross pay and each deduction over the same period.
Is the employer contribution included in cash pay?
No. Employer KiwiSaver contributions go towards retirement saving and are not added to the net cash result.