Student loan repayment calculator NZ
Last verified · Methodology
This student loan repayment calculator shows what comes out of your pay each week, fortnight or month in New Zealand, what you repay over the year, and how long your loan will take to clear. It uses Inland Revenue's 2026/27 threshold of $24,128 and the 12% repayment rate.
Your income and loan
Your repayments
Deducted per fortnight
$165.48
Threshold $928.00 per fortnight
Time to repay
7.0 years
| Year | Salary | Repaid | Balance left |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | $4,305 | $30,695 |
| 2 | $61,800 | $4,521 | $26,175 |
| 3 | $63,654 | $4,743 | $21,432 |
| 4 | $65,564 | $4,972 | $16,459 |
| 5 | $67,531 | $5,208 | $11,251 |
| 6 | $69,556 | $5,451 | $5,800 |
| 7 | $71,643 | $5,702 | $98 |
| 8 | $73,792 | $98 | $0 |
For New Zealand-based borrowers on a main tax code, where the loan is interest-free. Repayment threshold $24,128 a year and 12% rate as published by Inland Revenue for 2026/27.
| Salary | Per week | Per fortnight | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $13.44 | $27.00 | $58.72 | $704.64 |
| $40,000 | $36.60 | $73.20 | $158.68 | $1,904.64 |
| $50,000 | $59.64 | $119.40 | $258.64 | $3,104.64 |
| $60,000 | $82.68 | $165.48 | $358.72 | $4,304.64 |
| $70,000 | $105.84 | $211.68 | $458.68 | $5,504.64 |
| $85,000 | $140.40 | $280.92 | $608.68 | $7,304.64 |
| $100,000 | $175.08 | $350.16 | $758.68 | $9,104.64 |
How repayments come out of your pay
If you are New Zealand-based and earn salary or wages, your employer takes student loan repayments straight from your pay when you use a tax code ending in SL, such as M SL or ME SL. For each pay, the cents are dropped, the pay-period threshold is subtracted, and 12% of what is left goes to IRD. If a pay is at or below the threshold, nothing is deducted.
The thresholds for 2026/27 are $464 a week, $928 a fortnight, $1,856 every four weeks and $2,010.66 a month, all from the annual figure of $24,128. The threshold has been held at that level rather than raised with inflation, so as wages rise a little more of each pay goes to the loan. Every extra $1,000 of salary adds $120.00to the year's repayments.
Student loan deductions sit alongside PAYE and KiwiSaver on your payslip. The PAYE calculator puts them together into one take-home figure.
How long until it is paid off
Because loans are interest-free for New Zealand-based borrowers, the time to repay depends only on your balance, your income and any extra you pay. With a $35,000 balance and 3% pay rises each year, it takes about 7.0 years from a $60,000 salary and about 10.5 years from $45,000. Adding $2,000 a year in voluntary repayments on $60,000 brings it down to about 5.2 years.
Extra repayments go straight off the balance. Whether to make them is a judgment call: an interest-free loan costs nothing to carry, so some people put spare money into KiwiSaver or a home deposit instead. The KiwiSaver calculator shows what extra contributions would grow to.
Second jobs, self-employment and going overseas
A second job on a secondary SL code has 12% of every dollar deducted, with no threshold, because the threshold is used by your main job. If your main job pays below the threshold, you can ask IRD for a special deduction rate so the second job deducts less. The secondary PAYE rate for code S, including the ACC levy, is 19.25%.
Self-employed income and other income are not covered by payroll deductions. IRD works out what you owe at the end of the year and may ask for interim payments. If you spend fewer than 32 days in New Zealand in a 184-day period, you become overseas-based: interest is charged from the day after you left, and repayments are set by your loan balance rather than your income.
Low incomes and full-time study
Nothing is deducted while your pay stays under the threshold. On $24,000 a year the compulsory repayment is $0.00; on $30,000 it is $704.64, all of it from the $5,872 above the threshold. If one pay goes over the pay-period threshold because of overtime or holiday pay, a deduction is taken from that pay even if your income for the year ends up under $24,128. IRD squares up the year's repayments after 31 March.
Full-time students who expect to earn less than the threshold over the year can apply to IRD for a repayment deduction exemption, so no deductions are made from their part-time work while it is in place.
$24,128 a year. Per pay that is $464 a week, $928 a fortnight, $1,856 every four weeks or $2,010.66 a month. You repay 12% of everything you earn above it.
$4,304.64 a year, or $165.48 per fortnight if you are paid fortnightly on code M SL. That is 12% of the $35,872 you earn above the threshold.
Yes, while you are New Zealand-based. IRD treats you as New Zealand-based if you are in the country for 32 days or more in any 184-day period. If you become overseas-based, interest is charged from the day after you left.
Yes. On a secondary tax code with SL, 12% of all your pay from that job goes to the loan, with no threshold. A second job paying $400 a week has $48.00 deducted for the loan, on top of PAYE of $77.00 at code S.
Yes. Voluntary repayments can be made at any time through myIR and go straight off the balance. On $60,000 with 3% pay rises, a $35,000 loan takes about 7.0 years on compulsory repayments alone; adding $2,000 a year cuts that to about 5.2 years.