Before you start

An IRD number
A completed IR330 tax code declaration for each employer
A New Zealand bank account for refunds
A record of when you last were, or were not, a New Zealand tax resident

Step-by-step

1
Apply for an IRD number in your first week
Without an IRD number and an IR330, your employer must apply the no-notification rate of 45%. Apply as a new arrival through Inland Revenue; it is free and mostly online.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
2
Give every employer an IR330
This sets your tax code. With more than one job you use a secondary tax code on the second, and getting this wrong is the most common source of an unexpected bill or refund at year end.
Via employerWho: You
3
Check whether you are a transitional resident
If you have not been a New Zealand tax resident in the last ten years and have never claimed the exemption before, you qualify automatically. It runs to the last day of the month four years after the month you became resident.
OnlineWho: You
4
Work out what the exemption actually covers in your case
It shelters passive foreign income — overseas interest, dividends, rent and foreign investment fund income. It does not shelter foreign employment income or personal services income. If you moved to Christchurch to keep working remotely for an overseas employer, that salary is taxable from day one of residency.
OnlineWho: You, with an accountant if it is significant
5
Decide on KiwiSaver
The default employee and employer contribution rate rose to 3.5% from the first pay date on or after 1 April 2026. Members can choose 3.5%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%.
Via employerWho: You
6
Check your end-of-year assessment rather than ignoring it
Inland Revenue issues automatic income tax assessments for most employees after 31 March. Review it — it can be wrong if your tax codes were, and the refund or bill is real either way.
OnlineWho: YouAnnually after 31 March

Documents you’ll need

Passport and visa
IRD number
IR330 tax code declaration
New Zealand bank account details
Records of foreign income and its type

Things most newcomers don’t know

The four-year exemption does not cover foreign employment income, and that is the group most likely to assume it does.

Overseas salary and personal services income are explicitly excluded from the transitional resident exemption. So somebody who moves to Christchurch precisely because it is cheap, beautiful and permits remote work on a visitor visa, and who keeps their overseas job, is taxed on that income from day one of tax residency. The exemption shelters passive income — interest, dividends, rent, foreign investment fund income — not your job. This is the most consequential misreading of New Zealand tax available to a newcomer.

Source: Inland Revenue — what foreign income is exempt

The exemption is once per lifetime, and a short earlier stint can burn it.

You qualify if you have not been a New Zealand tax resident in the previous ten years and have never been a transitional resident before. Someone who spent a year here on a working holiday twelve years ago is fine; someone who did it eight years ago is not, and someone who already used the exemption cannot use it again. Establish your history before assuming you have four sheltered years for your investments.

Source: Inland Revenue — temporary tax exemption for transitional residents

No IRD number means a 45% tax rate, not a delay.

The no-notification rate applies until you provide an IRD number and an IR330. You recover it later, but it lands on your first pay cycles in the same month you are paying four weeks' bond, two weeks' rent in advance and a moving bill. Apply before you start work, not after — it is free and takes days.

Source: Inland Revenue — tax codes and IR330

There is no tax-free threshold, which changes how salaries compare.

Tax starts at the first dollar earned. Comparing a New Zealand offer against a UK, Australian or Irish one on headline rate alone overstates New Zealand's position, because all three of those shelter an initial band. Model the net figure. In Christchurch's favour, the much lower housing cost against Auckland usually more than absorbs the difference — but do the arithmetic rather than the intuition.

Source: Inland Revenue — tax rates for individuals

Common mistakes to avoid

Starting work without an IRD number and being taxed at 45%.
Assuming the transitional resident exemption covers foreign salary — it does not.
Never checking whether you are a transitional resident at all, and paying tax on genuinely exempt passive income.
Using the wrong secondary tax code with two jobs.
Comparing salaries as if New Zealand had a tax-free threshold.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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