This calculator shows how much of your employer's KiwiSaver contribution actually lands in your account once employer superannuation contribution tax, or ESCT, is taken out, a deduction many New Zealanders do not realise is happening. Your employer contributes a percentage of your pay to your KiwiSaver, commonly the minimum three percent and rising over the next few years, and it is easy to assume the full amount goes in. But before it reaches your account, the government takes ESCT off the top, at a rate set by your total of salary plus the employer contribution, ranging from 10.5 percent for low incomes up to 39 percent for the highest. So a higher earner sees a bigger slice taken than someone on a modest income, and the net amount invested is less than the headline figure. You enter your salary and your employer's contribution rate, and the calculator works out the gross employer contribution, the ESCT rate that applies, the tax deducted, and the net amount that actually goes into your KiwiSaver each year. Use it to understand your true employer contribution and to see how it changes as the minimum rate rises. ESCT is unavoidable, but knowing the net figure helps you plan your retirement savings realistically. General information, not tax advice.
ESCT rate is set by your salary plus the employer contribution. It is deducted before the money reaches your KiwiSaver. General information, not tax advice.
The gross employer contribution is your salary times the contribution rate. The ESCT rate is set by your salary plus that contribution: up to 16,800 is 10.5 percent, up to 57,600 is 17.5 percent, up to 84,000 is 30 percent, up to 216,000 is 33 percent, and above that 39 percent. ESCT is the gross contribution times that rate, and the net contribution is what remains.
On a 70,000 dollar salary with a 3 percent employer contribution, the gross contribution is 2,100 dollars. Salary plus contribution is 72,100 dollars, in the 30 percent ESCT band, so 630 dollars of ESCT is taken, leaving 1,470 dollars in your KiwiSaver.
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