Tax codes: Primary employment

Primary employment tax codes

Use this table for the correct tax code for your employee.

*Certain criteria apply - employees should follow the Tax code declaration form (IR330) flowchart, or use our decision tree to work out their tax code.

Completing the Tax code declaration form

Your employee must complete a Tax code declaration (IR330) form when they start working for you, or if their circumstances change.

Other sources of primary income

The following can also be considered primary employment if it is the main or only source of income:

• taxable pension
• benefit*
• student allowance.

*this will always have an M tax code, even if it is a secondary source of income.

Only one primary tax code can be used

An employee can use only one primary tax code at any time. If your employee uses a primary tax code for another job, then they must use secondary code S with you unless one of the following two codes apply:

• SH if their total income is over $48,000
• ST if their total income is over $70,000.

If your employee has a student loan and their total income is over the threshold at which they must begin repaying their loan, SL is added to whichever of the above secondary codes applies (ie the tax code will be S SL, SH SL or ST SL).

Other codes

Other codes that your employee may need to use include:

• WT for schedular (formerly withholding) payments
• CAE for the earnings of casual agricultural employees
• EDW for the earnings of election day workers
• NSW, the tax code for Pacific Island workers employed under the Recognised Seasonal Employers scheme.
• STC a special tax code or student loan special repayment rate.  Example of use: when a secondary tax code would result in a tax rate too high for their circumstances or not enough tax will be deducted to cover their tax or student loan obligations.

Find out more

Deducting student loan repayments
Using the tax code declaration
Secondary employment
Correcting employee tax codes

Date published: 23 Apr 2009

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