KiwiSaver is the workplace savings scheme most New Zealanders pay into for retirement, and Budget 2025 reshaped three parts of it at once: the minimum contribution rate is climbing, the annual government payment has been cut in half, and higher earners no longer receive that payment at all. Some of those changes have already landed, one arrives on 1 April 2026, and another waits until 2028. This guide sets out what each contributor actually puts in and gets back for the year ahead, with the arithmetic behind every figure.
The three sources of money in your account
A KiwiSaver balance grows from three streams. You contribute a slice of your gross pay, your employer adds a matching amount, and the government tops the pot up once a year. Each stream now works to a different set of rules than it did a year ago.
Your own contribution is a percentage of before-tax pay that your employer deducts alongside PAYE. You can pick 3, 4, 6, 8 or 10 percent, and the deduction happens automatically each payday. To see what a given rate leaves in your hand, the New Zealand salary calculator shows PAYE and the ACC levy so you can line the KiwiSaver deduction up against your take-home figure.
The minimum rate is rising to 3.5 percent, then 4 percent
For years the floor for both the employee and the employer sat at 3 percent. That floor is being lifted in two steps. From 1 April 2026 the default minimum becomes 3.5 percent, and from 1 April 2028 it moves again to 4 percent. The rise is phased across three years so households and payroll teams can plan for it rather than absorb it in one hit.
There is an escape hatch for anyone who cannot stretch to the higher rate. From April 2026 you can ask to drop back to 3 percent for a temporary spell, and your employer only has to match you at that lower 3 percent while you stay there. It is a relief valve, not a permanent setting: when the period ends you return to the prevailing minimum.
The government contribution has been halved
Once a KiwiSaver year, the government pays in a top-up based on what you contributed. The old deal was 50 cents for every dollar you put in, capped at NZ$521.43. From 1 July 2025 that became 25 cents per dollar, capped at NZ$260.72. The dollar amount you have to contribute to reach the cap has not moved: you still need to put in NZ$1,042.86 across the KiwiSaver year, which runs from 1 July to 30 June. Contribute that much and the government adds NZ$260.72. Contribute less and you get 25 percent of whatever you did put in.
Two more conditions apply. Anyone earning more than NZ$180,000 of taxable income in a year now receives nothing from the government, a cut-off that started on 1 July 2025. And 16 and 17 year olds became eligible for the government payment from 1 July 2025, with employer matching extended to that age group from 1 April 2026, so a working teenager can now collect the same streams an adult does.
For most salaried workers the cap is easy to clear. At the new 3.5 percent rate you pass NZ$1,042.86 in personal contributions once your salary tops about NZ$29,800, so full-time earners generally bank the whole NZ$260.72. Part-time or lower-paid savers who fall short can make a voluntary lump-sum payment before 30 June to lift their contribution to NZ$1,042.86 and capture the maximum.
What lands in your account in a year
The table below runs the 3.5 percent rate that applies from 1 April 2026 across a range of salaries, assuming income under NZ$180,000 and enough contributed to earn the full government top-up.
| Gross salary | Your 3.5% | Employer 3.5% | Government top-up | Added in a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NZ$40,000 | NZ$1,400 | NZ$1,400 | NZ$260.72 | NZ$3,060.72 |
| NZ$60,000 | NZ$2,100 | NZ$2,100 | NZ$260.72 | NZ$4,460.72 |
| NZ$80,000 | NZ$2,800 | NZ$2,800 | NZ$260.72 | NZ$5,860.72 |
| NZ$100,000 | NZ$3,500 | NZ$3,500 | NZ$260.72 | NZ$7,260.72 |
| NZ$120,000 | NZ$4,200 | NZ$4,200 | NZ$260.72 | NZ$8,660.72 |
One caveat sits behind the employer column. Employer contributions carry employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT), deducted before the money reaches your account, so the amount that actually lands is a little below the headline percentage. The rate depends on your total pay plus employer contributions, which is why the figures above are the gross match rather than the net deposit.
A worked year on NZ$70,000
Take someone earning NZ$70,000 and contributing at the 3.5 percent minimum from April 2026. Their own share is NZ$2,450 for the year. The employer matches with another NZ$2,450 before ESCT. Because NZ$2,450 comfortably clears the NZ$1,042.86 threshold, the government adds the full NZ$260.72. That is roughly NZ$5,160 flowing into the account across the year, of which NZ$2,710 comes from someone other than the saver.
The halving of the government payment is worth putting in plain numbers. A saver who maxes out used to collect NZ$521.43 a year and now collects NZ$260.72, a drop of NZ$260.71 every year. Left invested over a long career, that yearly gap compounds into a meaningful sum. The compound interest calculator shows how a recurring annual amount grows over decades, and the retirement savings calculator projects a KiwiSaver balance forward to the age you plan to stop working.
Why the extra one percent matters more than the cut
It is tempting to read the smaller government payment as a straight loss, but the rising contribution rate pulls in the other direction and does far more work. On a NZ$70,000 salary, moving from 3 to 4 percent adds NZ$700 of your own money plus another NZ$700 from your employer each year, a NZ$1,400 lift that dwarfs the NZ$260.71 the government took away. The match is the part of KiwiSaver that no other savings account replicates, so a higher matched rate is usually the strongest lever a saver has. To sanity-check any of these percentages against your own pay, the percentage calculator handles the base arithmetic.
FAQ
What is the KiwiSaver minimum contribution rate in 2026? From 1 April 2026 the default minimum for both the employee and the employer rises from 3 percent to 3.5 percent of gross pay. It rises again to 4 percent on 1 April 2028. You can still choose 4, 6, 8 or 10 percent instead.
How much is the government KiwiSaver contribution now? From 1 July 2025 the government pays 25 cents for every dollar you contribute, up to NZ$260.72 a year. To earn the full amount you need to contribute at least NZ$1,042.86 between 1 July and 30 June.
Who no longer gets the government contribution? Anyone with taxable income above NZ$180,000 in a year stopped receiving it from 1 July 2025. Everyone below that line still qualifies, including 16 and 17 year olds, who became eligible on the same date.
Can I stay on the old 3 percent rate? Yes, temporarily. From April 2026 you can apply to hold at 3 percent for a set period, and your employer matches you at 3 percent while you do. When the period ends you move back to the prevailing minimum.
Do employer contributions arrive in full? No. Employer contributions have ESCT deducted first, so the amount reaching your account is slightly less than the stated percentage of your pay. The tax rate scales with your total income.
Sources
- Inland Revenue, KiwiSaver changes.
- The Treasury, Budget 2025: KiwiSaver.
- Inland Revenue, KiwiSaver Government contributions.