Tāke takoha whakatātanga kaitukumahi (ESCT) Employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT)

Watch our video for an overview of how ESCT works in practice

Employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT) is deducted from your employer contributions to your employees' KiwiSaver or complying funds.

Complying funds are superannuation schemes with similar rules to KiwiSaver. For example, members’ savings are locked in until they’re eligible for NZ Superannuation.

You need to work out the ESCT rate for each employee. The rate depends on how much your employee earns and how long they’ve worked for you.

You do not pay ESCT if your employee asks you to deduct money from their pay to put into a superannuation scheme. These are not employer contributions.

There are 2 ways to deduct ESCT, you can either:

• deduct ESCT from each employer contribution
• include your employer contribution in your employees' gross salary or wage. Tax is deducted under the PAYE rules.