For individuals & families: Travelling to and from New Zealand
People visiting New Zealand for a short term or a working holiday
If you are coming to New Zealand with the intention of staying and working for a short term or having a working holiday, you will have to pay tax.
- You may be a non-resident employee or non-resident contractor for tax purposes
- When you start working
- When you leave New Zealand
- Goods and services tax
- Superyachts and other visiting pleasure craft
You may be a non-resident employee or non-resident contractor for tax purposes
You're a non-resident employee if you are:
- staying in New Zealand for 183 days or fewer in any 12-month period and
- you're a tourist and not a tax resident and
- employed.
Find out more about non-resident employees
You're a non-resident contractor if you are:
- staying in New Zealand for 183 days or fewer in any 12-month period and
- you're a tourist and not a tax resident and
- performing services in this country as a self-employed person or your non-resident company is receiving contract payments in this country.
Find out more about non-resident contractors
If you are in this country for more than 183 days you become a New Zealand tax resident.
When you start working
If you are working in New Zealand during your visit, you'll need an IRD number. Please compete an IRD number application - individual (IR595).
We'll send you your IRD number within 8-10 working days of receiving your completed application form. You can start work without your IRD number but you'll need to give it to your employer as soon as you receive it from us.
Each employer you work for will give you a Tax code declaration (IR330) to fill out. Use the M tax code for your main source of income while you're in New Zealand (this should be your paid employment). The code will tell your employer the correct amount of tax to deduct from your wages.
In New Zealand tax is deducted on a pay as you earn (PAYE) basis and includes Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) earners' levy. This means that if you have an accident and injure yourself while you're in New Zealand, you'll get medical and hospital treatment without having to pay all the costs.
The amount of income tax you pay depends on how much you earn in a year. See the tax rates.
When you leave New Zealand
As you've paid tax at the correct rate while you've been working in New Zealand you shouldn't need to have any more contact with us.
But if you'd like us to work out your tax assessment for you, fill out a Refund application - people leaving New Zealand (IR50) and an Individual income tax return (IR3) and send these to us before you leave New Zealand.
| Note | |
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| In some instances we may work out that you have further tax to pay. | |
Goods and services tax
Goods and services tax (GST) is an indirect tax that businesses charge as part of the goods and services they provide.
Visitors to New Zealand must pay GST on all goods and services that they buy in New Zealand. There is no refund of GST available when you leave New Zealand.
Superyachts and other visiting pleasure craft
If you visit here on a pleasure craft (eg a superyacht) that is a temporary import under the Customs Act, and you buy goods such as:
- sails
- navigation lights or
- life-rafts and anchors,
they will be zero-rated for GST (this is where GST applies to a transaction but it is applied at the rate of zero percent).
The goods must either enable the craft to sail or ensure the safety of passengers and crew.
If you buy consumable stores while you visit here, such as:
- fuel,
- food and water,
they can be zero-rated if the craft is going to a destination outside New Zealand fisheries waters.
Non-resident crew usually don't pay income tax
If you're a non-resident crew member of a pleasure craft, you won't have to pay income tax if:
- you perform services for a person who is not resident in New Zealand, and
- the pleasure craft is a temporary import under the Customs Act, and
- the pleasure craft is not owned by a New Zealand resident or a controlled foreign company, and
- you are not present in New Zealand on more than 365 days in any two-year period, and
- you are not in New Zealand unlawfully.
Find out more in our Visitor's tax guide (IR294) or go to Immigration New Zealand's website.
Date published: 06 Dec 2010
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