2019 Tax Changes – effective from April 1st, 2019

There is not much happening Tax wise for the 2019/20 Tax Year, just four changes to do with payroll.

  1. ACC Earner Levy Threshold – The maximum income on which the ACC levy is applied is increased from $126,286 to $128,470.
  2. Student Loan Threshold – The Student Loan Threshold has increased to $19,760 or $380 per week (so no deductions on your first $380 of earnings each week). The deduction remains at 12%.
  3. Minimum Wage – The minimum wage is raised to $17.70 an increase of $1.20. The new minimum wage rates will come into effect on all hours worked from 1 April.  The Youth Rate remains at 80% of the Minimum Rate, therefore $14.16.
  4. Employee Kiwisaver – It is now acceptable for an employee to request 6% and 10% KiwiSaver Employee Deductions, this is in addition to the 3, 4 or 8% (why they just don’t allow anything from 3% upwards I’m not sure).

However, in relation to Employment Relations there are a number of significant changes.

  1. The introduction of Domestic Violence Leave – an entitlement of 10 days per year.
  2. Mandatory meal breaks
  3. The 90 Day trial period is removed for employers with greater than 19 employers.

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