Labour Hire And Film Schedular Rates
Labour hire and film schedular rates are the withholding percents Inland Revenue lists for agency placed contractors and for screen production work. On Tax rate notification for contractors IR330C January 2024, labour hire is activity 19 at 20%, and television, video or film production processes for New Zealand residents is activity 24 at 20%.
Those 20% figures are the standard activity rates, not a PAYE payslip and not your IR3 bracket. Skip the form and the payer must use the no notification rate of 45%, except a non resident contractor company at 20%. Pick the wrong activity number and a writer on a TV script can land on 25% while a lighting tech sits on 20%.
Payer audit before the first pay
A payer collects Tax rate notification for contractors IR330C January 2024, writes the activity number that matches the work, and deducts the rate on the form. Skip sections 1 and 3 and the no notification rate is 45%, or 20% if the contractor is a non resident contractor company.
- 1Confirm it is a listed activity. IR330C: you receive schedular payments if you are not an employee and the type of work is an activity listed on page 3. For a more detailed description see Schedule 4 of the Income Tax Act 2007.
- 2Collect a completed IR330C for each source. Hand it to the payer. Do not send it to Inland Revenue. Keep it seven years after the last schedular payment to that person or entity. Tax code WT.
- 3Write the activity number that matches the pay. Labour hire arrangement: 19. New Zealand resident on set or off set production: 24. New Zealand resident film performer: 10. Visiting non resident entertainer: 18 at 20% with no chosen rate.
- 4Use the rate on the form, or the standard if they did not choose. Missing sections 1 and 3: 45%, or 20% if the contractor is a non resident contractor company. Employer’s guide IR335: do not deduct ACC earners’ levy, KiwiSaver deductions or student loan repayments from schedular payments. IR330C: you will receive an invoice for your ACC levies directly from ACC.
| IR330C activity | Who Inland Revenue lists | Standard | No notification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Payment by a labour hire business to any person (individual, partnership, trust or company) performing work or services directly for a client of that business, or a client of another person, 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% |
| 10 | Entertainers (New Zealand resident only) such as lecturers, presenters, participants in sporting events, and radio, television, stage and film performers | 20% | 45% |
| 18 | Non resident entertainers and professional sportspeople visiting New Zealand | 20% | N/A |
| 14 | Freelance contributions to newspapers, journals, or for radio, television or stage productions | 25% | 45% |
Source: Inland Revenue Tax rate notification for contractors IR330C January 2024, page 3. The full activity list is longer. This page owns labour hire and film. Who deducts and files sits on the Withholding and Schedular hub.
Labour hire residents cannot use IR331
IR330C: if you are a resident contractor paid by a labour hire business under a labour hire arrangement you cannot use a certificate of exemption for these payments. You may be able to apply for a 0% tailored tax rate instead. Forum threads that tell an IT contractor to “get a COE so the agency stops withholding” are pointing at the wrong paper. The 0% path is on certificate of exemption IR331.
Payee audit before you sign the call sheet
A payee names the payer, names the work, then writes the IR330C activity that matches: 19 for labour hire, 24 for New Zealand resident production process work, 10 for a resident performer, 14 for freelance contributions at 25%, or 18 for a visiting non resident entertainer at 20%.
- AName the payer. Inland Revenue’s about schedular payments for contractors page: an IT project manager contracted by a recruitment agency (labour hire business) to one of the agency’s clients, and a builder contracted to a labour hire business, are schedular examples. If the hire firm pays you to work for its client, that is activity 19 even if you invoice through a company.
- BName the work. Inland Revenue’s entertainer, contractor or employee page: generally, all workers in the screen production industry who perform work behind the camera are treated as a contractor, including lighting or sound technicians, administrative or payroll personnel, producers, wardrobe and so on. That maps to activity 24 for New Zealand residents. In front of the camera is activity 10 if you are a resident performer.
- CDo not mix activity 14 with 24. Freelance contributions for radio, television or stage productions sit at 25%. Production process work sits at 20%. A script invoice and a grip invoice are not the same line.
- DComplete the form, then keep GST separate. Fill IR330C using how to fill IR330C step by step. Inland Revenue: register for GST if you earn $60,000 a year or more (before expenses) from schedular payments, or if you add GST onto your prices. The screen production contractor page counts gross income including per diems and allowances against that $60,000 test. Withholding is on the GST exclusive fee. Split that invoice on the withholding tax calculator.
Labour hire, activity 19
The payer is the labour hire business. The worker performs services directly for the hire firm’s client. IR330C includes companies on this line. Standard 20%. Residents who want 0% need a tailored tax rate, not a certificate of exemption.
Film production, activity 24
New Zealand residents only on this IR330C line. Inland Revenue: individuals (not companies) who work in the screen production industry on a contract for services must have withholding deducted at 20% of total contract payments. Inland Revenue’s self employed resident contractors page: tax does not have to be deducted if the payments are made to your company and they are not payments being made under certain labour hire arrangements. If the studio is also a labour hire business paying you onto someone else’s set, start with activity 19.
20% is not locked if you can choose
Inland Revenue: tell your payer the correct tax rate so they withhold the right amount. You cannot use a tax rate lower than 10% without applying for a tailored tax rate. IR330C: visiting non resident entertainers and professional sportspeople use 20% and do not get that choice. Everyone else who chooses writes a rate to one decimal point.
Inland Revenue’s screen production page: you are most likely a contractor if you work on a contract for services, you do not receive salary or wages, your routines are not usually controlled, you are not paid sick pay or holiday pay, you can employ staff or subcontract, and you have a written contract for services. If those do not apply, it is likely you are an employee and the form is IR330, not IR330C.
Use case: Wellington labour hire IT
Situation: labelled New Zealand resident placed by a recruitment agency with an insurer, working at the insurer’s direction. Inland Revenue’s about page uses that recruitment agency example.
Action: IR330C activity 19, standard 20% unless they choose another rate at least 10% or hold a 0% tailored certificate. A certificate of exemption does not fit. Tax code WT. GST still follows the $60,000 test.
Use case: Wellington grip, activity 24
Situation: labelled New Zealand resident lighting technician on a contract for services, behind the camera. Inland Revenue treats that behind camera work as contractor work. All payments excluding GST make up gross income, including payments received to cover work related expenses.
Action: IR330C activity 24, standard 20%. If they also act in a scene, that performer work is activity 10, still 20% for a resident. A freelance article about the shoot is activity 14 at 25%. File an IR3. ACC invoices them directly.
What people get stuck on
Forum threads mix a 20% agency cut with a final tax bill, and mix a limited company invoice with a skip on withholding. r/PersonalFinanceNZ film comments call 20% a legal requirement on their end. That matches IR330C activities 10, 19, and 24 as standard rates. It does not stop a resident choosing another IR330C rate at least 10%, or a labour hire resident applying for a 0% tailored rate. Geekzone treats page 3 as a final tax bracket. Inland Revenue still wants an income tax return at year end. r/LegalAdviceNZ says a GST invoice from a limited company means no IR330C. Follow the activity: labour hire activity 19 names companies. The screen production page talks about individuals (not companies) on contract for services. The self employed resident contractors page only skips deduction when payments go to your company and they are not labour hire arrangements.
Afirmo is right that labour hire and temping usually withhold, and wrong if it is read as any company invoice skips WT. Afirmo’s certificate of exemption note also skips the labour hire resident block on IR330C. PaySauce copies the IR330C list, including labour hire 20% and film production 20%, and it skips visiting entertainer activity 18. Baker Tilly’s 2017 labour hire extension is the same idea as today’s activity 19, including no company exception on labour hire. Coffer’s 20% labour hire default matches the standard rate. Drop Coffer’s $120,000 effective rate maths: that dollar bill is not on the IR330C page opened for this article. InvoiceDataExtraction’s default starts at 10% line is the chosen rate floor, not activity 19 or 24. Businesslike correctly flags that labour hire residents cannot get a certificate of exemption.