Guide
KiwiSaver opt out: how to leave within the window
Start a new job and your employer automatically enrols you in KiwiSaver — you do not get asked first. If you do not want to be a member, you can opt out, but only inside a short window that starts two weeks after you start and closes eight weeks in. Miss it, and you cannot opt out at all. Here is exactly how the window works, how to file the opt-out, and how the money that was already deducted comes back.
Last checked October 2026
What opting out is, and who can do it
Automatic enrolment is the default for new employees: if you are 18 or over, under 65, a New Zealand resident and not already a KiwiSaver member, your employer signs you up when you start. You never filled in a form — so the scheme gives you a way out. Opting out is that exit: it reverses the enrolment, stops the deductions from your pay, and refunds anything already taken.
The catch is who can use it. Only people who were automatically enrolled can opt out. If you chose to join — by contacting a provider yourself, opting in through Inland Revenue, or asking your employer to sign you up — you cannot opt out later, no matter how recently you joined. Your options then are narrower: a savings suspension (a contribution holiday) rather than a full exit.
It is also worth knowing that automatic enrolment does not apply to every job. Temporary roles of 28 continuous days or less, and some casual agricultural work, are outside the rules — so starting that kind of job should not enrol you in the first place.
The window: day 14 to day 56
The opt-out window is deliberately not immediate. You cannot opt out in the first 13 days — the earliest an opt-out takes effect is day 14. From there you have until day 56, the end of week eight, to get your notice in. So the working window is roughly six weeks long, and it starts from the day you began the job, not the day your first contribution was deducted.
Two practical points follow from that. First, do not wait for a payslip to confirm KiwiSaver is being deducted — by the time you notice, some of the window has already gone. Second, the clock restarts with every new job: if you are not a KiwiSaver member, each new employer automatically enrols you again, and you have to opt out again each time. Opting out once does not permanently excuse you from future enrolments.
If you opt out early in the window, the opt-out takes effect from day 13 after you started. If you file it later, it takes effect from the day Inland Revenue or your employer accepts it — and your employer stops deducting from the next pay run they can manage.
How to opt out
The quickest route is online through myIR, Inland Revenue's online service. Log in, open the KiwiSaver panel on your homepage, and follow the opt-out steps. You will need your IRD number, your contact details, and a bank account number for any refund. Have your employer's name or IRD number and your employment start date handy as well.
The paper route is the KiwiSaver opt-out request form, called KS10. If you are inside the eight-week window, you can give the completed form to your employer — they must stop the deductions and pass the opt-out on to Inland Revenue. If it is a late opt-out, you send the form to Inland Revenue at the address printed on it instead.
Either way, the opt-out goes to Inland Revenue or your employer — not to your KiwiSaver provider. Contacting the fund your pay has been going into will not get you out of the scheme; the provider cannot process an opt-out.
- Online: myIR, KiwiSaver account panel, opt-out steps.
- In the window: KS10 form to your employer.
- Late: KS10 form posted to Inland Revenue, or the online route if you qualify.
Getting your money back
Opting out undoes the enrolment, but any contributions already deducted have to be paid back to you. The refund comes from two places: your employer refunds the contributions they still hold, and Inland Revenue refunds the amounts your employer had already sent them, along with any government contribution that went in.
Inland Revenue says it generally takes about 30 working days to process a refund, and the full amount can take longer to land if part of it is coming from your employer and part from Inland Revenue. Your employer can claim back the employer superannuation contribution tax they paid on your contributions separately, so you do not need to chase that.
One thing the refund does not include: any investment earnings. Because the money is treated as never having belonged in the scheme, you get back what was deducted, not what it might have earned in the meantime.
If you miss the window
After day 56 you cannot opt out as of right. There is a late opt-out, but Inland Revenue only accepts it up to three months after they received your first contribution, and only in specific situations: your employer did not give you the KiwiSaver employee information pack within seven days of you starting, a product disclosure statement never reached you, something outside your control stopped you filing on time, or you should never have been automatically enrolled in the first place.
If none of those apply, the opt-out door is closed. What remains is a savings suspension — the contribution holiday — which pauses your and your employer's contributions but leaves you a member. You keep the balance, it stays invested, and you can restart contributions when you choose.
That distinction matters if your reason for wanting out is cash flow rather than opposition to the scheme. A suspension achieves the same take-home-pay relief without giving up the government contribution you have already earned or forcing you to re-enrol later.
Special cases: under-19s and guardians
The rules bend for younger members. If you are under 19, you may be able to opt out where an employer enrolled you before you turned 18, where you were enrolled without your guardians' consent, or — if you are under 16 — where your guardian agrees to the opt-out.
The reverse also applies: you generally cannot opt out if you contacted a provider and chose the scheme yourself, if your guardians signed you up or consented to you joining, or if you opted in directly. Those are all cases where joining was your or your family's choice rather than automatic enrolment, so the opt-out window does not rescue you.
If you are a guardian who enrolled a child and now want to reverse it, the path runs through Inland Revenue with the child's details — not through the provider.
What opting out costs you
Before you file the form, it is worth being clear about what you are walking away from. Staying in at the minimum rate attracts an employer contribution — 3.5% of your pay from 1 April 2026, rising to 4% in April 2028 — which is money on top of your salary that you cannot get any other way. It also attracts the government contribution: 25 cents for every dollar you put in, up to $260.72 a year, for eligible members earning under $180,000.
On a $70,000 salary, the employer contribution alone is roughly $2,450 a year. Opting out gives up both that and the top-up, and the deductions you were uncomfortable about were partly funding them. If the objection is the size of the deduction rather than the scheme itself, you can drop your rate to 3% — the minimum — instead of leaving.
None of this changes the rules: if you have decided you do not want to be a member, the opt-out window is the way out. But it is worth making that decision with the full picture, because reversing it later means re-enrolling and waiting out any new lock-in from scratch.
Contribution rates and take-home payThe government contribution
Quick opt-out checklist
- Check you were automatically enrolled — voluntary joiners cannot opt out.
- Count the days: you can opt out on or after day 14 and on or before day 56 of the job.
- File in myIR, or give a KS10 form to your employer inside the window.
- Expect refunds of deducted contributions within about 30 working days.
- Missed the window? Ask Inland Revenue about a late opt-out, or apply for a savings suspension.
- Every new job re-enrols you unless you are already a member — diarise the window each time.