KiwiSaver Employer Rate Increase Calculator NZ
This calculator shows what the KiwiSaver contribution increase costs your business, at each of the two steps. The default rate for employees and the matching employer contribution rose from 3 percent to 3.5 percent on 1 April 2026, and rises again to 4 percent on 1 April 2028. You enter your total annual payroll and the share of staff who are contributing members, and it returns the cost at each rate, what each step adds, and the total once the change is fully in. The reason to run this now rather than in 2028 is that the second step lands in a single pay run: there is no phasing, so a payroll that has not budgeted for it simply gets more expensive one Monday in April. Two details are worth knowing. An employee who wants to keep contributing at 3 percent can apply for a temporary rate reduction of between three and twelve months, and because the employer contribution matches the employee rate, your cost for that person stays lower for the same period, so the transition is not uniform across a team. And ESCT is not an extra cost on top: employer superannuation contribution tax is deducted from the contribution and paid to Inland Revenue, which changes what lands in the employee's account rather than what leaves your bank account. Your cash cost is the gross contribution either way, which matters when you are explaining the benefit to staff but not when you are budgeting for it.
The rise to 4 percent on 1 April 2028 lands in a single pay run with no phasing. An employee can apply for a temporary reduction to 3 percent for between three and twelve months, and because the employer contribution matches the employee rate, your cost for that person stays lower for the same period.
How it works
Contributing payroll is your total annual payroll multiplied by the share of it that belongs to contributing KiwiSaver members, because employees who have opted out or are on a savings suspension attract no employer contribution. Each rate is then applied to that contributing payroll to give the annual cost at 3 percent, 3.5 percent and 4 percent. The step figures are the differences between them: the first step is what 1 April 2026 already added, and the second is what 1 April 2028 will add on top. The headline figure is the whole change from the old 3 percent rate to 4 percent, which is the number to carry into a three year budget. ESCT is deliberately not deducted anywhere here, because it comes out of the contribution rather than being added to your cost.
Worked example
A business has a $1,200,000 annual payroll, of which 85 percent belongs to contributing KiwiSaver members, so $1,020,000 attracts employer contributions. At the old 3 percent rate that cost $30,600 a year. At 3.5 percent from 1 April 2026 it is $35,700, so the first step added $5,100. At 4 percent from 1 April 2028 it becomes $40,800, so the second step adds another $5,100. The full change from 3 percent to 4 percent is $10,200 a year, which on a $1.2 million payroll is roughly the cost of a part time role.
Related calculators
- Employer KiwiSaver Cost: the contribution for one employee.
- Employer Contribution After ESCT: what actually lands in their account.
- Payroll Cost: the whole payroll picture.
- True Cost of an Employee: Where KiwiSaver sits in the total.