KiwiSaver is New Zealand's voluntary retirement savings scheme run through your job. Once you are a member, your employer takes your contribution out of each pay before it reaches you, adds a contribution of its own, and sends both to the KiwiSaver provider you chose.
The default rate went up on 1 April 2026. Both the employee and the compulsory employer contribution rose from 3% to 3.5% of gross pay, and both are due to rise again to 4% on 1 April 2028, according to Inland Revenue. If 3.5% is more than you can manage, you can apply for a temporary rate reduction that keeps you at 3% for between 3 and 12 months. The government adds 25 cents for each dollar you contribute in a year, up to $260.72, but not if your taxable income is over $180,000.
On a $90,000 salary at the default rate, $3,150 comes out of your pay and your employer adds a matching contribution. Your own share is calculated on gross pay, so it does not lower the income your tax is worked out on; it simply leaves less to spend.
That is the opposite of Australian superannuation, where the employer pays the compulsory amount on top of your salary and nothing comes out of take-home pay. Two offers of the same headline salary in Auckland and Sydney are therefore not comparable until you account for the scheme on each side.
The take-home pay calculator deducts KiwiSaver at the rate you choose, or none if you are not a member, and lists your employer's contribution separately. The New Zealand page of the salary to hourly calculator explains why KiwiSaver can already be inside an hourly offer.