Your IRD number and tax code: how Australians get paid right in New Zealand

New Zealand tax is simpler than Australian tax in most ways. The one thing it asks of you is to choose your own tax code, and plenty of Aussies get it wrong.

The short version

• Apply for your IRD number online through myIR as a new arrival. Australian passport holders can usually do this within four to six weeks of landing and often get the number in about two days [1].
• Give your employer an IR330 tax code declaration. Without one, they must deduct tax at 45% [3].
• Use M for your main job and a secondary code (SB, S, SH, ST or SA) for any second job, based on your total expected income [3].
• New Zealand's tax year runs 1 April to 31 March, not 1 July to 30 June.
• The Australia–New Zealand double tax agreement, in force since 2010, decides which country taxes income that crosses the Tasman [8].

How New Zealand tax differs from home

If you've spent years doing an Australian tax return each October, New Zealand will feel strange. Most salary and wage earners don't file a return at all. Tax is taken through PAYE, and Inland Revenue works out at year end whether you've paid the right amount.

Some differences worth knowing:

The missing tax-free threshold surprises people. New Zealand's lower rates make up for it at most income levels, but don't compare take-home pay on gross salary alone.

Step one: get your IRD number

Your IRD number is your tax file number. You need one to earn income, open a bank account, join KiwiSaver, apply for family payments or buy property [7].

Australians have the easiest route. Under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement you'll normally receive a resident visa when you arrive, and Inland Revenue's new arrival process asks Australian passport holders for passport details only, with no visa number [1].

1. Register a personal myIR account on the Inland Revenue website.
2. Apply as a new arrival in myIR, using your Australian passport details [1].
3. Apply within four to six weeks of arriving. After that you'll need the longer "living in New Zealand" process [1].
4. Watch for a text or email. If approved, the number usually arrives in about two days [1].
5. Keep it somewhere safe. You'll need it for your employer, bank, KiwiSaver and any later tax events [1].

Already have a job lined up? Start the application the week you land. Our guide to RealMe, bank accounts and ID in New Zealand covers the bank and ID side.

Step two: choose the right tax code

New Zealand puts the tax code choice on you. You fill in an IR330 tax code declaration and give it to your employer. The form has a flowchart on pages 2 and 3 to help [3]. If you don't hand one in, your employer has to deduct tax at the non-declaration rate of 45% [3].

M: your main income

M is the code for your main or highest source of income [3]. Most people with one job use M. Using M on two jobs at the same time is wrong, and Inland Revenue may ask your employer to change it [3].

There's also an ME code for people who qualify for the independent earner tax credit, which applies within a band of lower and middle incomes. Check the current band on the IR330 before you tick it.

Secondary codes: your second job

If you have more than one source of taxable income, every source after your main one needs a secondary code [4]. The code depends on your estimated total annual income from all sources [3]:

These match New Zealand's income tax brackets, which have applied since 1 April 2025 [2]. Pick the code for your total, not just the second job, or you'll end up with a bill.

Student loans and other codes

If you have a New Zealand student loan, your code includes SL (for example, M SL), and your employer deducts repayments [3]. An Australian HECS-HELP debt doesn't go on your New Zealand tax code. You report your worldwide income to the ATO instead, so read HECS-HELP debt when you live overseas.

Contractors on schedular payments use the WT code. That's covered in our guide to contracting and sole trading in New Zealand.

Change your code whenever your situation changes, such as starting a second job, a big pay rise, or taking out or paying off a student loan [4]. You just give your employer a new IR330 [3].

Reading your payslip

A New Zealand payslip usually shows three main deductions:

• PAYE. Income tax worked out from your tax code.
• ACC earners' levy. This funds ACC, New Zealand's no-fault accident cover. It's a percentage of your earnings, under 2%, up to an annual cap, and it's deducted with PAYE. The secondary rates above are shown before ACC levies [3].
• KiwiSaver. If you're eligible and your employer enrols you, your contribution comes out of your pay. Your employer adds a contribution on top.

Australians living in New Zealand can join KiwiSaver, because you're entitled to live there indefinitely [9]. You don't have to give up your Australian super. See your super while you live overseas before you decide what to do with it.

myIR and the end of the tax year

myIR is Inland Revenue's online account. Once you're set up, use it to:

• check your income and the tax deducted by each employer
• update your contact and bank details so refunds reach you
• see your end-of-year assessment after 31 March
• pay any tax owed or claim a refund

For most wage earners Inland Revenue works out the result at the end of each tax year. If you've used the right codes, the difference is usually small. If you've had a second job on the wrong secondary code, expect a bill.

Income from both sides of the Tasman

When you become a New Zealand tax resident

Tax residency is separate from your visa. New Zealand tax residents are generally taxed on their worldwide income [5]. Australia applies its own residency tests, so you can be resident in both countries for a while. That's where the treaty comes in.

The temporary tax exemption

If you're a new migrant and haven't been a New Zealand tax resident in the previous 10 years, you may be a transitional resident [6]. That gives you a one-off temporary exemption of about four years on most foreign income, such as Australian interest, dividends and rent [6]. You don't apply. You qualify automatically [6].

Two important limits:

• It doesn't cover income from overseas employment or personal services [6]. If you keep doing work for an Australian employer remotely from Auckland, that income is taxable in New Zealand from day one.
• It ends early if you or your partner apply for Working for Families tax credits [6].

The double tax agreement

Australia and New Zealand signed their current double tax agreement on 26 June 2009. It came into force on 19 March 2010 and is modified by the OECD multilateral instrument [8]. Where both countries tax the same income, you can usually claim a foreign tax credit to offset the double tax [5].

Your Australian tax position is the other half of the story. Start with Australian tax residency after moving, and talk to a tax adviser who knows both systems if you have income in both countries.

Got a question about your payslip?

Ask in Cooee New Zealand, our Facebook group for Australians in New Zealand. Someone has usually made the same mistake and fixed it.

Sources

1. New arrival to New Zealand – IRD number application – Inland Revenue
2. Tax rates for individuals – Inland Revenue
3. About tax codes – Inland Revenue
4. What tax code should I use? – Inland Revenue
5. Tax for New Zealand tax residents – Inland Revenue
6. Temporary tax exemption – Inland Revenue
7. When you need an IRD number – Inland Revenue
8. Australia – tax treaties – Inland Revenue Tax Policy
9. Joining KiwiSaver – Inland Revenue

Keep reading

• RealMe and a bank account: proving who you are in New Zealand
• Contracting in New Zealand: sole trader, GST and provisional tax
• Living in New Zealand under the Trans-Tasman arrangement
• Are you still an Australian tax resident once you move?