# Estimate New Zealand employee pay-run cost

Work out what one employee really costs each pay: PAYE, KiwiSaver and employer contribution tax, a minimum-wage check, and the dated payday filing and PAYE payment deadlines.

Canonical: https://aroai.com/tools/nz_employee_cost/

## Tool reference

MCP tool ID: `nz_employee_cost`. Availability: Live. Country: New Zealand.

Credit use: 1 credit.

## Input schema

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "tax_year": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "2025-26",
        "2026-27"
      ]
    },
    "gross_pay": {
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 100000000
    },
    "pay_frequency": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "weekly",
        "fortnightly",
        "four_weekly",
        "monthly"
      ]
    },
    "payday": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$"
    },
    "hours_worked": {
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 0.01,
      "maximum": 1000
    },
    "tax_code": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "M",
        "M SL"
      ]
    },
    "kiwisaver_employee_rate": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "3",
        "4",
        "6",
        "8",
        "10",
        "none",
        "3.5"
      ]
    },
    "employer_kiwisaver_rate_percent": {
      "description": "Employer KiwiSaver contribution rate as a percent. If omitted, uses 3% for 2025-26 or 3.5% for 2026-27.",
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 100
    },
    "acc_employer_levy_rate_percent": {
      "description": "Optional user-supplied ACC employer levy estimate rate as a percent of gross pay. No ACC rate is inferred or looked up.",
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 100
    },
    "esct_rate_threshold_income": {
      "description": "IRD's ESCT threshold amount: prior-year salary or wages plus gross employer contributions for an employee employed for the whole previous tax year; otherwise the current-year estimate including employer contributions. The selected rate stays fixed for the tax year.",
      "type": "number",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 100000000
    },
    "paye_payment_schedule": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "monthly",
        "twice_monthly"
      ],
      "description": "Use monthly when the employer's connected-business annual PAYE plus ESCT is below NZD 500,000; otherwise use twice_monthly."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "tax_year",
    "gross_pay",
    "pay_frequency",
    "payday",
    "hours_worked",
    "tax_code",
    "kiwisaver_employee_rate",
    "paye_payment_schedule"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## Example input

```json
{
  "tax_year": "2026-27",
  "gross_pay": 5666.67,
  "pay_frequency": "monthly",
  "payday": "2026-11-20",
  "hours_worked": 173.33,
  "tax_code": "M",
  "kiwisaver_employee_rate": "3.5",
  "paye_payment_schedule": "monthly"
}
```

## Usage notes

- Covers tax codes M and M SL with weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or monthly pay.
- An ACC employer levy rate is your own estimate if you supply one.
- Awards, leave accrual, holiday pay and secondary tax codes are outside this estimate.