How To Fill IR330C Step By Step
How to fill IR330C step by step in New Zealand is a contractor job, not a payroll guess. Inland Revenue’s Tax rate notification for contractors IR330C tells the person paying you which rate to withhold from schedular payments. Your tax code on that form is always WT.
You complete a separate form for each source of contracting income. You hand it to the payer. You do not post it to Inland Revenue. Skip sections 1 and 3 and the payer must deduct at the no notification rate of 45%, or 20% if you are a non resident contractor company.
Trap: no form is not “they cannot pay me”
Some contractor blogs say the agency cannot pay until IR330C arrives. Inland Revenue’s deductions page still requires the payer to deduct. They use 45%, or 20% for a non resident company. Employer’s guide IR335 September 2026: missing name and/or IRD number on the form also uses that no notification rate. The high rate is a credit on your later IR3. It is not a licence to skip the form.
Who uses IR330C, and who uses IR330
IR330C January 2024: use this form if you are a contractor receiving schedular payments. If you receive salary or wages as an employee, use the Tax code declaration IR330. Inland Revenue’s schedular payments page: those payments are made to contractors who do certain kinds of work, mainly involving the supply of labour. Tax is deducted. They are different to salary or wage payments.
The process hub is Withholding and Schedular. The employee form walkthrough is how to complete IR330 for a new job. Employment NZ’s employee or contractor page: a contractor is engaged under a contract for services. Calling the invoice “contractor” does not settle that test. From 21 February 2026 a gateway test can treat a worker as a specified contractor if every listed criterion is met.
IR330
Salary or wages. Main benefit or NZ Super. Employee tax codes such as M or SB. Give it to the employer or Work and Income.
IR330C
Schedular payments. Tax code WT. Activity number from page 3. Give it to the person paying you. Payer keeps it. Not a GST return.
Official starting point
Inland Revenue’s work out and declare my tax rate page: work out the rate, fill in IR330C, give the completed form to the person who pays you. Tell that person if your tax code later changes. You will need your IRD number.
The five fill steps
How to pick the tax rate on page 2
Inland Revenue’s work out page: you can use the standard schedular payment tax rate by following the flow chart in the form, apply for a tailored tax rate, or choose your own rate. If you choose your own rate it must be at least 10%. If you are a non resident on a temporary work or entry visa it must be at least 15%. business.govt.nz working multiple jobs: you can choose to have tax deducted at any rate from 10% to 100%.
IR330C flowchart, in order: a non resident entertainer or professional sportsperson visiting New Zealand uses 20%. If you have a tailored tax rate certificate, use the rate on the certificate and show the original to your payer. If you are a non resident for tax purposes or you hold a temporary entry class visa, a chosen rate cannot be lower than 15%. Everyone else who chooses a rate cannot go lower than 10%. If you do not choose, use the standard tax rate for the activity type on page 3.
IR335: non resident entertainers and professional sportspeople visiting New Zealand must use 20%. They cannot choose their own rate. Help choosing a number: Inland Revenue’s tax rate estimation tool for contractors.
business.govt.nz: if you find work through a recruitment company or other labour hire business, they are required to deduct income tax from your pay. They will ask you to fill out IR330C. You need a separate IR330C for each different activity and source of income. Tax on schedular payments used to be known as withholding tax. Your tax code will be WT.
Pull highlight: Inland Revenue, use the WT tax code for income from schedular payments. IR330C: your tax code will always be WT.
Activity numbers you actually write
IR330C: if you are receiving payment for any of the types of work listed, enter the activity number in section 2. You will generally be required to complete an income tax return at the end of the tax year. The year end form is the IR3, not this notification. Forum threads that treat the page 3 table as your final tax bracket are mixing withholding with the individual rates on the IR3.
| Activity number | Work Inland Revenue lists | Standard rate | No notification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Cleaning office, business, institution, or other premises (except residential), or cleaning or laundering plant, vehicle, furniture | 20% | 45% |
| 7 | Company directors’ (fees) | 33% | 45% |
| 8 | Contracts wholly or substantially for labour only in the building industry | 20% | 45% |
| 14 | Freelance contributions to newspapers, journals, or for radio, television or stage productions | 25% | 45% |
| 19 | Payment by a labour hire business to any person performing work or services directly for a client of the labour hire business, under a labour hire arrangement | 20% | 45% |
| 24 | Television, video or film: on set and off set production processes (New Zealand residents only) | 20% | 45% |
| 25 | Voluntary schedular payments | 20% | 45% |
| 26 | Non resident contractor (and not a company), if none of the other activities apply | 15% | 45% |
| 27 | Non resident contractor (and a company), if none of the other activities apply | 15% | 20% |
The full page 3 list also covers ACC personal service rehabilitation payments (10.5%), farming and horticulture (15%), commissions (20%), honoraria (33%), modelling (20%), and more. Do not copy a blog that sends non residents to activity 15. Activity 15 on IR330C is gardening, grass or hedge cutting, or weed or vermin destruction for an office, business or institution.
r/LegalAdviceNZ tutors often cannot see their work on page 3. IR335 is blunt: if the type of work is not listed, the payer does not need to deduct. IR330C still lets you choose voluntary schedular payments if tax is not ordinarily deducted and the person paying you agrees in writing. IR335: that written agreement should include both names, that all payments will be treated as voluntary schedular payments, the period, and both signatures. Then complete IR330C. If they do not choose a tax rate, use the standard rate of 20% (activity 25).
Exemption, 0%, and a new IR330C mid year
Inland Revenue’s certificates of exemption page: some contractors pay their own tax instead of a deduction on each payment. Certificates can only be used for schedular payments. They cannot be used for salary or wages. New Zealand tax residents can apply if they are in business, have a good record of filing returns and paying tax, and get schedular payments from a payer other than a labour hire business under a labour hire arrangement.
If you are a New Zealand tax resident and you get schedular payments from a labour hire business under a labour hire arrangement, apply for a 0% special tax rate instead. Non resident contractors on labour hire can still apply for a certificate of exemption. Renew the certificate every tax year. Inland Revenue sends a renewal notice in January or February so you can renew before 1 April.
Inland Revenue’s apply for an exemption page: in myIR go to More in your Income Tax account, Tailored Tax application, Certificate of Exemption. Or send IR332. They aim to process within 10 working days, longer in February and March. Show the certificate to your payer. You do not need to give them an IR330C. IR335 still labels the certificate the payer checks as IR331.
A tailored tax rate is the other path. Inland Revenue’s apply for a tailored tax rate page: in myIR select Tailored tax application, then Tailored tax rate. Or send IR23BS. Within 10 working days they send a letter and certificate. Show the certificate and give a completed IR330C. Reapply every tax year you want one. IR330C: you may want a tailored rate if the minimum rate would take too much tax because of business expenses.
Caution: Hnry and Afirmo on 0%
Hnry and Afirmo still say a certificate of exemption means you complete IR330C at 0%. Inland Revenue’s apply for an exemption page says the opposite: with an exemption you do not give the payer an IR330C. A tailored tax rate is the path that still needs IR330C plus the certificate. Labour hire residents who want 0% use the tailored rate, not the certificate.
Use case: Christchurch labour hire, labelled
Situation: Hypothetical self employed builder invoices a hire firm, not the site owner. The hire firm is a labour hire business. The builder is a New Zealand tax resident.
Action: complete IR330C before the first pay. Activity 19 is the labour hire line. Standard rate on that line is 20% unless they choose another rate at least 10%, or they hold a 0% tailored tax rate certificate. A certificate of exemption cannot be used on those labour hire payments. Tax code WT. Keep GST on a separate clock.
Use case: Tauranga film, labelled
Situation: Hypothetical New Zealand resident on set video work through a studio that deducts schedular tax. They also have a PAYE cafe job.
Action: IR330C for the studio, not IR330. Activity 24 is television, video or film on set and off set production processes for New Zealand residents, standard 20%. The cafe job still uses IR330. Inland Revenue: tell the person who pays you if your tax code changes. File an IR3 at year end. WT does not deduct student loan, KiwiSaver, or ACC levies. Those stay yours.
What the deduction does not cover
Inland Revenue’s tax schedular payments and file employment information page: multiply the contractor’s tax rate by their gross payment. You do not deduct student loan repayments, KiwiSaver deductions, or ACC levies from schedular payments. IR330C: if you receive schedular payments you will receive an invoice for your ACC levies directly from ACC. GST is still a separate registration test. Inland Revenue’s about schedular payments for contractors page: register for GST if you earn $60,000 a year or more (before expenses) from your schedular payments, or if you add GST onto your prices. Contractor GST steps: GST for contractors basics.
The payer files employment information. Inland Revenue: within 2 working days of the date of payment if filing electronically on a payday basis, or within 10 working days if filing by paper. Pay the withheld amount when you pay any PAYE on staff wages. If Inland Revenue notices the wrong tax code, they write to the payer with the code to use. App gigs that never hit a labour hire desk sit on gig economy income tax.