KiwiSaver Contributions: What Changed, and What Your Rate Should Be
By Jack Ridder ·
The government contribution to your KiwiSaver was halved. From 1 July 2025 it pays 25 cents for every dollar you put in, up to $260.72 a year. It used to be 50 cents in the dollar, up to $521.43.
If you set your contributions years ago and have not looked since, you are probably still working off the old number.
Here is what to check:
- Your payslip. Find the KiwiSaver line and the rate next to it.
- Whether you will hit $1,042.86 this KiwiSaver year. That is what you need to contribute yourself between 1 July and 30 June to get the full $260.72.
- Your rate, if it has been a while. You can pick 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%. You can change it once every three months, through myIR, your employer or your provider.
One more thing that is easy to miss: if you earn over $180,000 you no longer get the government contribution at all. That also started on 1 July 2025.
Key Takeaways
Most people set their rate once and never look again. These are the numbers that have changed under them.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| Government contribution halved | 25 cents per dollar from 1 July 2025, up to $260.72 a year. It was 50 cents and $521.43. |
| What you need to put in | $1,042.86 of your own money between 1 July and 30 June to get the full amount. |
| Rates you can pick | 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%. Nothing in between. |
| Changing your rate | Once every three months, unless your employer agrees to sooner. |
| Income cap | Earn over $180,000 and you get no government contribution. |
| Suspending costs you twice | Your employer stops contributing too, so you lose both sides at once. |
Table of Contents
- What the government actually pays now
- The rates you can choose
- What your employer has to pay
- What a savings suspension really costs
- Leave, ACC and gaps in your contributions
- Working out what a rate change does to your pay
- Sources
What the government actually pays now
The KiwiSaver year runs 1 July to 30 June. If you contribute your own money during that year, the government adds to it.
Since 1 July 2025 it pays 25 cents for every dollar, capped at $260.72. To get the full amount you need to have put in $1,042.86 yourself over the year.
Two things worth knowing:
- Only your own contributions count. What your employer puts in does not count toward the threshold.
- Over $180,000 of income and you get nothing. That cap is also new from 1 July 2025.
Your provider claims this for you. There is no form to fill in.
Pro Tip: If you are self-employed or not working, nothing is coming out of a payslip, so nothing counts unless you pay it in yourself. A voluntary payment straight to your provider before 30 June is the whole difference between $260.72 and nothing.
The rates you can choose
Your options are 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10% of your before-tax pay. There is nothing between them, so 5% is not available.
You can change your rate once every three months, unless your employer agrees to do it sooner. You can do it through myIR, by telling your employer, or through your provider.
The default rate for new members has been going up in steps, so if you joined a few years ago your rate may be lower than what a new member starts on today. Worth a look if you have never touched it.
What your employer has to pay
Your employer has to contribute as well. This is the part people forget is money they have already earned.
Two things affect what lands in your account:
- ESCT. Employer superannuation contribution tax comes off the employer contribution before it reaches you. The rate depends on your income, so the higher your pay, the less of their contribution arrives.
- Total remuneration. Some employment agreements include the employer contribution inside your stated salary rather than on top of it. If you have never checked which yours does, check. It changes what your pay is actually worth.
Your payslip usually shows both your deduction and theirs. It is worth looking at both, not just yours.
What a savings suspension really costs
A savings suspension, which used to be called a contribution holiday, lets you stop contributing for between three months and a year.
The bit that catches people: your employer stops too. You are not pausing your own saving, you are pausing both sides of it. If your rate is 3.5% and your employer is matching, stopping does not slow your saving down by half, it stops roughly all of it.
That does not make it the wrong call. If the choice is a suspension or missing rent, suspend. But go in knowing it costs more than the number on your payslip suggests.
You can still make voluntary payments to your provider during a suspension, and those still count toward the government contribution.
Leave, ACC and gaps in your contributions
Contributions follow your pay, so anything that changes your pay changes them:
- Unpaid leave. Nothing is being paid, so nothing is deducted. Contributions simply stop until you are paid again.
- Paid parental leave. Contributions are optional. If you opt in, your own 3.5% comes out of the payments and the government adds a 3.5% employer contribution on top.
- ACC. On ACC weekly compensation, both your deductions and the employer contributions stop, unless you arrange to keep contributing yourself.
None of these show up as an alert. Your balance just grows more slowly than you expected, and you find out later.
If you want to keep contributing through a gap, you can pay your provider directly.
Working out what a rate change does to your pay
Going from 3.5% to 6% sounds small. On $60,000 it is about $29 a week out of your take-home pay, and that is before you think about what it becomes over thirty years.
The honest way to decide is to look at both numbers at once: what leaves your account each week, and what you can actually afford to lose from it. A rate you cannot sustain is worse than a lower one you keep.
KiwiBudget has a tax calculator that works out PAYE, the ACC earners' levy, student loan repayments and the independent earner tax credit on current IRD rates, so you can see your take-home pay on your actual tax code before you change anything.
This article is general information about how KiwiSaver contributions work. It is not financial advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a qualified financial adviser, or contact IRD or your KiwiSaver provider.