As of 1st April 2018, a few payroll changes initiated by IRD came into effect which you should know about. Nothing to worry, it’s all pretty straightforward. Here are the details and what you need to do to stay compliant.
New Minimum Wage Rates
The adult minimum wage rate will increase from $15.75 to $16.50 (before tax) per hour.
The starting-out wage and training minimum wage will also increase from $12.60 to $13.20 (before tax) per hour.
ACC Earner Levy Rate
The Earner Levy Rate for the 2018 tax year will remain at $1.39 for every $100 of liable.
ACC Earner Levy Maximum Liable Earnings
The maximum liable earnings for the ACC Earner levy will increase from $124,053 to $126,286 for all pay periods paid on or after the 1st of April 2018. Any income above $126,286 will not be subject to the ACC Earner Levy.
Student Loans
The annual Student Loan repayment threshold has increased to $19,448. This is the level above which Student Loan deductions will be taken. This is broken down to pay period threshold amounts in the following table.
| If you are paid... | Your repayment threshold is... |
| Weekly | $374 |
| Fortnightly | $748 |
| Four-Weekly | $1,496 |
| Monthly | $1,620 |
| Annually |
$19,448 |
What do you need to do?
This change is automatically taken care of for you in Your Payroll and you don’t need to do anything. However, if you have direct debits set up for salaried employees you’ll need to change the amount to account for the small change in take-home pay.
If you have any questions about these changes or how they apply them to your business, send our team an email adviser@yourpayroll.co.nz
About The Author ⬎
Our team is fully accredited with the IRD and have years of experience in both payroll accounting practices and Inland Revenue taxes. They are also affiliated with a few of our business partners and can relate to clients and customers alike on all issues.
Keeping track of my employees' payroll used to take me hours, days even, now, I do it in minutes.
– R. Burt