How to Calculate Your KiwiSaver PIR With Two Jobs or Multiple Income Sources (NZ, 2026)

Got a second job, rental or contracting income? Your PIR is based on your total income, not one payslip. Here's how to combine everything to find the right rate, with a worked NZ example.

TL;DR: Your KiwiSaver PIR (10.5%, 17.5% or 28%) is based on your total income, not one payslip. Add together every income source — both jobs, plus rental, contracting and dividends — then add your PIE income on top, and test the total against the 2025/26 thresholds of $15,600, $53,500 and $78,100 ⁵²³. A second job often pushes people from 17.5% to 28%.

If you have a second job, a rental property, some contracting work or dividend income, working out your KiwiSaver PIR is a little less obvious than for someone on a single salary. The mistake is natural enough: you look at your main payslip, see an income that lands in the 17.5% band, and set that rate — without adding in everything else you earn.

Your PIR is a Prescribed Investor Rate — the tax rate applied to the income your KiwiSaver fund earns for you. It is based on your total income across the last two tax years, not on any single source ¹. This guide explains how to combine multiple income streams, how rental, contracting and dividend income fit in, and works through an example of a second job tipping someone from 17.5% to 28%.

How is PIR calculated when you have more than one income source?

Your KiwiSaver fund is a Portfolio Investment Entity, or PIE. Rather than taxing the fund at a flat company rate, a PIE taxes the income attributed to you at your personal PIR. There are three rates for New Zealand resident individuals — 10.5%, 17.5% and 28% — and which one applies is fixed by your income, not by preference ¹.

The important part for people with multiple income sources is what "your income" means. When you work out your PIR you must add together all of your taxable income for the year. That includes every salary and wage source, so two jobs are combined — and it includes rental, contracting or self-employed, and dividend income ⁵. Then you add your PIE income on top, and test that combined figure against the thresholds ⁵⁶.

So a PIR is not read off one job. It is read off the whole picture. If you only ever look at your main employer's pay, you can easily set a rate that is too low — and a rate that is too low does not save you tax. Inland Revenue squares up the difference at year end and adds the shortfall to your tax to pay ¹⁰.

Do I add my two jobs together to find my PIR?

Yes. For PIR purposes your two jobs are a single taxable-income figure — you add the income from both together before testing it against the thresholds ⁵. The secondary tax code on your second job (such as SH or ST) changes how PAYE is deducted from that job through the year, but it has nothing to do with which PIR you use. PIR is about your total income, not your tax code.

This is where the trap sits. Imagine each job pays $32,000. Looked at on its own, either job points to 17.5%. Added together, your taxable income is $64,000 — over the $53,500 line — which points to 28% ³⁴. Neither payslip on its own tells you the right answer; only the total does.

The same logic applies to a job plus any other earnings. The PIR test does not care how many sources your income comes from. It only cares about the total.

How do rental, contracting and dividend income affect my PIR?

They all count. Rental income, contracting or self-employed income, and dividends are taxable income, so each of them is added into the same total you use for the PIR test ⁵. People are most likely to overlook these because they do not arrive on a main employer payslip — but Inland Revenue includes them all the same.

There is one more layer for the second test. The PIR rules use two figures: your taxable income, and your taxable income plus PIE income ²³. PIE income is normally "excluded income" that stays off your tax return — but it is added back specifically to work out which PIR band you fall into ⁶. So a strong year inside your KiwiSaver or another PIE fund can lift the combined figure and matter to your rate, even though you never pay tax on it separately.

The table below shows how the pieces stack up for the test.

Source: IRD — all taxable income combined, with PIE income added back to determine the band ⁵⁶.

If your income from these sources is irregular — a rental that was vacant for part of a year, contracting that ebbs and flows — that is exactly why the rules look back over completed tax years rather than asking you to guess the current one.

Worked example: second job pushing you from 17.5% to 28%

Here is how a second job can move someone up a band. The figures are illustrations using the current PIR thresholds, not a recommendation about your own rate.

Scenario: Aroha has a main job paying $48,000 a year. Partway through the year ended 31 March 2025 she took on a weekend job that paid $9,000. She also earns a little dividend income, around $1,200.

Looked at on her main job alone, Aroha's $48,000 sits under the $53,500 line and points to 17.5% ³. But the PIR test uses her total taxable income of $58,200, which is over $53,500 — so for that year she points to 28% ⁴⁵.

Whether 28% is actually her PIR depends on the two-year rule (covered below) and on her other look-back year. But the lesson holds: if Aroha had set 17.5% off her main payslip and ignored the rest, she would have under-set her rate, and Inland Revenue would square up the shortfall at year end ¹⁰. The second job, plus the dividends, is what changed the answer.

What if my income changes part-way through the year?

A PIR does not adjust itself when your income changes — your provider keeps using the rate you gave them until you update it. So picking up a second job in the middle of a year, or losing one, does not automatically move your rate.

What the rules do, helpfully, is look back rather than forward. Your PIR for the current tax year is based on completed years, not on a part-year guess (more on which years, next). That means a job you start today affects your PIR test once it has run through a full income year — and a job you stop will eventually drop out of the look-back figures. The practical habit is to re-check your PIR whenever your income mix changes meaningfully: a new job, a new tenancy, a contract starting or ending.

There is no need to fiddle with your rate every few weeks. But "set once and forget for a decade" is how people on multiple income sources drift onto the wrong rate.

Which two income years does IRD actually use?

Your PIR is not based on what you earn right now. It is based on your total income across the previous two income years ending 31 March — and you use whichever of those two years gives the lower rate ¹. For the current tax year ending 31 March 2026, that means the years ended 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025.

For someone with steady multiple incomes, both years may point to the same rate. But if one year was lighter — a rental sat empty, a contract paused, a second job hadn't started yet — that lower year can entitle you to a lower PIR, even though your combined income is higher now ¹. You run the full combined-income test against each year separately, then take the lower result.

One more thing worth knowing: if you never supply a PIR (or you have no IRD number on file), the default rate of 28% applies ¹⁴. For a genuine 28% earner that is the right rate; for someone whose combined income still lands them at 17.5%, it means overpaying until they fix it.

How to set the right PIR and avoid a square-up surprise

Once you know your combined total for each of the last two years, setting the rate is quick — you tell your KiwiSaver provider, not Inland Revenue, and most let you do it in their app or online portal in a few minutes. ANZ, Milford, Simplicity, Generate, Booster and Fisher Funds all accept a PIR update online or through support; the path differs by provider, so check the current step with yours.

It is worth getting right, because the year-end square-up cuts both ways ¹⁰:

• PIR too low — common when people forget to add a second job, rental or dividends. You have under-paid, so Inland Revenue calculates the shortfall and adds it to your tax to pay at year end ¹⁰.
• PIR too high — you have over-paid through the year. Excess PIE tax from an over-stated PIR is now refunded via the year-end square-up ¹⁰, but you have effectively lent Inland Revenue money interest-free in the meantime.

For most people with multiple incomes, the risk runs in the "too low" direction, because the extra sources are easy to leave out of the calculation. If you want to confirm the rate before you change anything, our guide on what PIR you should be on walks through the thresholds in full, the end-of-year PIE tax square-up explains how the wash-up works, and if your other income is from self-employment, KiwiSaver when you have no employer covers the contribution side.

While you are checking, it is a sensible moment to confirm your other KiwiSaver settings too. The minimum employee contribution rate rose from 3% to 3.5% from 1 April 2026, matched by a 3.5% compulsory employer contribution, with a further rise to 4% scheduled for 1 April 2028 ⁷. If 3.5% does not suit your cash flow right now, from 1 February 2026 you can apply to Inland Revenue for a temporary savings rate reduction back to 3%, for between 3 and 12 months ⁹. And to receive the full government contribution of $260.72 (25 cents per $1) you need to put in at least $1,042.86 of your own money between 1 July and 30 June — though members earning over $180,000 a year no longer receive it ⁸.

Frequently asked questions

Do I combine both my jobs to work out my PIR? Yes. For the PIR test your two jobs are a single taxable-income figure — you add them together before testing against the thresholds ⁵. Your secondary tax code (SH, ST and so on) affects PAYE on the second job, but it does not decide your PIR.

Does rental, contracting or dividend income count towards my PIR? Yes. All taxable income counts — every salary or wage source plus rental, contracting or self-employed, and dividend income — and then your PIE income is added on top for the second test ⁵⁶. These are the streams people most often forget, which is why they end up on a rate that is too low.

Which two years does IRD use for my PIR? The previous two income years ending 31 March, and you use whichever gives the lower rate ¹. For the year ending 31 March 2026 that is the years ended 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025. If one of those years was lighter, it may entitle you to a lower PIR ¹.

What if I picked up a second job part-way through the year? Your PIR does not change automatically — your provider keeps the rate you gave them until you update it. Because the test looks back over completed income years, a new job affects your PIR once it has run through a full year. It is worth re-checking your rate whenever your income mix changes.

What happens if my PIR is too low because I left out other income? You have under-paid PIE tax. Inland Revenue squares it up at year end and adds the shortfall to your tax to pay ¹⁰. An under-set PIR does not save you tax — it just turns a quiet in-fund deduction into a bill you settle later.

What is the default PIR if I do not supply one? 28% — the highest rate. It applies automatically if you give no PIR or have no IRD number on file ¹⁴. For a genuine 28% earner that is correct; for a lower earner it means overpaying until the rate is fixed.

This article is general information only and is not personalised financial advice. It does not take into account your particular financial situation, goals or needs. Before acting, consider whether it's right for you and seek advice tailored to your circumstances. Craig Smith Business Services Ltd (FSP712931), trading as Smiths Financial, holds a Class 2 licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority and is a member of the Financial Dispute Resolution Service (FDRS). KiwiSaver is a long-term savings scheme; government contributions, contribution rates and tax (PIR) settings are set by the Government and can change — figures are correct as at 2 April 2026, so check current rules at ird.govt.nz. Written by Henry Smith, Financial Adviser; reviewed by Craig Smith, Principal Adviser. Last reviewed 2 April 2026.