Combined tax and take-home across two jobs.
Total take-home
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Combined PAYE
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ACC levy
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Your breakdown
Updates live as you type| Slice of combined income | Tax |
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The myth that a second job is taxed more harshly
Plenty of people turn down extra work because they have heard the second job gets taxed at some punishing rate. It is one of the most persistent tax myths in New Zealand, and it costs people money. The truth is simpler and fairer: Inland Revenue taxes your total income across every job through one set of progressive bands. There is no special penalty for having two jobs. The secondary code on your second job exists only to make sure enough PAYE is withheld up front, because that job does not know what the first one already paid you. This calculator adds both incomes, runs the combined total through the real brackets, and shows your genuine overall tax and take-home, not the misleading view you get by looking at each payslip on its own.
It is for anyone juggling two roles: a full-time worker with a weekend gig, a part-timer with two regular employers, or someone picking up a fixed-term contract on top of their main salary.
How the combined bands actually work
Your two incomes are added, then the total is taxed in slices: 10.5 percent on the first $15,600, 17.5 percent to $53,500, 30 percent to $78,100, 33 percent to $180,000, and 39 percent beyond. The ACC earner levy of about 1.67 percent applies on top, up to the annual cap. The reason a second job feels heavily taxed on its payslip is that those dollars sit on top of your first income, so they are taxed at your highest band, not from 10.5 percent again. That is correct, not a penalty. Each dollar is taxed once, at the rate for the band it lands in.
A $60,000 main job plus $25,000 on the side
Imagine your main job pays $60,000 and a second job adds $25,000, for $85,000 combined. The calculator works it through like this.
The total tax and ACC on $85,000 is the same whether it comes from one job or two. Splitting it across employers changes who withholds what, never the final amount. The chart shows each slice climbing through the bands, which is why the top slice of your second job sits at 33 percent.
Picking the right secondary code, and the year-end square-up
Set your second job to the secondary code that matches your combined income band. With $85,000 in total you sit in the 33 percent zone, so the ST code keeps the withholding close. Choose a band that is too low and not enough comes out, which leaves you with a bill when Inland Revenue reviews the year after 31 March. The flip side is reassuring: if too much was withheld, IRD refunds you in the same reconciliation. So the secondary code is about timing, getting the withholding roughly right as you go, while the annual square-up makes the final figure exact regardless. This is also why dropping a second job mid-year rarely needs panic; the reconciliation sorts out any over or under payment.
Will I get a tax bill at the end of the year for two jobs?
Only if too little tax was withheld across the year, usually because the secondary code was set below your real combined band. If the codes matched your income, the year-end position should be close to square. The safest move is to set the second job to the band reflecting your total earnings, and if your hours or pay change, update the code so the withholding keeps pace. That keeps any reconciliation small in either direction.
Is it better to put more hours into one job than to take a second?
From a pure tax angle it makes no difference. The same total income is taxed the same way whether it comes from one employer or two, because the bands apply to the combined figure. The real considerations are practical: KiwiSaver employer contributions apply to each job separately, holiday pay and entitlements differ, and a single job is simpler at tax time. Choose on the work and the conditions, not on a tax fear that does not hold up.