10.5%
Taxable income $15,600 or less, and total income including PIE income $22,500 or less
FundfinderPIR checker
The wrong tax rate on your KiwiSaver quietly costs you for years.
Your prescribed investor rate is 10.5%, 17.5% or 28%, and it is set by your income in the last two tax years — not this one. Enter those two years and see the rate you should be on.
Rules checked September 2026. Thresholds apply from the 1 April 2025 income year. Source: Inland Revenue.
Check your rate
Everything updates as you move a slider. Nothing is stored.
Your last two tax years
Each New Zealand tax year runs 1 April to 31 March. Use the two years before the one you are in now.
Earlier year
$62,000
$2,500
Most recent completed year
$48,000
$2,000
The rate you are on today
$60,000
5% a year
Your prescribed investor rate
17.5%
The earlier year qualifies for 28% and the most recent year for 17.5%. You use the lower of the two, so your rate is 17.5%.
You look like you are on the wrong rate
You said you are on 28% but your income suggests 17.5%. Being on a rate that is too high means more tax is taken out of your fund during the year.
Over 10 years on a $60,000 balance, the difference is roughly $4,431 of fund value.
Tax on your fund income each year, at each rate
Illustration only. Assumes your whole balance earns the return you chose and that all of it is taxable PIE income, which real funds do not do exactly. It ignores fees, contributions, foreign investment fund rules and any income other than what you entered. General information, not tax advice.
The three rates
You qualify for a rate in a year only if both tests in that band are met. Work each of the last two years out, then use the lower rate.
17.5%
Taxable income $53,500 or less, and total income including PIE income $78,100 or less
28%
Everyone else
Four things people get wrong
It is based on the past, not on today
Your PIR for the current tax year comes from your income in the two tax years before it. A pay rise this year does not change your rate until the year after next.
You use the lower of the two years
Work out the rate each of the last two years qualifies for, then use the lower one. A single low-income year — parental leave, study, a gap between jobs — can hold your rate down.
PIE income counts in the second test
The second threshold in each band adds the income attributed to you by your KiwiSaver and other PIE funds on top of your salary. Your provider shows this on your annual statement.
Too low costs you, too high is refunded
If your PIR was too low, Inland Revenue bills you for the shortfall after the end of the tax year. Since 2020 they also refund you if it was too high — but only after the year ends, so you lose the use of the money in the meantime.
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PIR questions
Where do I change my PIR?+
With your KiwiSaver provider or fund manager — not with Inland Revenue. Most providers let you update it in their app or online account in a couple of minutes, and it applies from the next calculation.
What happens if I never told my provider a PIR?+
You are taxed at the default rate of 28%. If your correct rate is 10.5% or 17.5%, you have been overtaxed. IRD squares this up after the tax year, but updating your rate stops it happening again.
Which tax years do I use?+
The two tax years before the current one. Each NZ tax year runs 1 April to 31 March, so for the year ending 31 March 2026 you look at the years ending 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Where do I find my PIE income figure?+
On the annual tax certificate or statement from your KiwiSaver provider and any other PIE funds you hold. If you have no PIE investments at all, enter zero.
I am not a New Zealand tax resident. What is my rate?+
Different rules apply to non-residents and to trusts, companies and other entities. This tool only covers New Zealand tax resident individuals — check with Inland Revenue or a tax adviser.
Is this tax advice?+
No. This is general educational information about how the PIR rules work. Confirm your own rate with Inland Revenue, your provider or a tax adviser.