NRWT For NZ Payers
NRWT for NZ payers is the Inland Revenue job of withholding tax from New Zealand interest, dividends, and royalties paid to non residents. Inland Revenue calls those payments non resident passive income. The New Zealand payer registers, deducts the tax, and sends it in.
If you are the foreign investor, your New Zealand based payer pays that tax to Inland Revenue for you. If you are the New Zealand business, fund, or company making the payment, this page is yours. Pick the wrong clock and you either deduct resident withholding tax from a non resident, or you send money offshore with no NRWT at all.
Do I deduct NRWT, or something else?
Work the payment in this order before you open a rate table. Inland Revenue’s NRWT hub is for interest, dividends, and royalties to non residents. Contractor labour is a different withholding clock.
Associated persons cannot switch to AIL
IR396 asks: is interest being paid to an associated person or persons? If yes, AIL is not applicable and NRWT must be deducted. IR291: generally, where AIL is applied the parties will not be associated. The NRWT or AIL choice has to be made before interest is paid. That agreement cannot be retrospective.
Schedular WT on an invoice is still the Withholding and Schedular hub. Resident interest and dividends sit on RWT on interest and dividends. The withholding tax calculator is built for contractor invoices. It also names NRWT as the overseas passive income clock, which is this page.
What rate if there is no double tax agreement?
Inland Revenue’s deduct NRWT at the right rate page: NRWT rates are decided by double tax agreements, and you deduct at the rate that applies to the area you are sending passive income to. You cannot use a lower DTA rate the payee may become eligible for later. Only use the rate they are eligible for now. If they think too much was taken, they can ask for a refund after they pass the eligibility test.
| When this row applies | Interest | Dividends | Royalties |
|---|---|---|---|
| No DTA, unknown country, or a person travelling (Inland Revenue additional rates) | 15% | 30% | 15% |
| IR291 domestic headline rates, before a DTA overlay | 15% (investment society dividends treated as interest) | 30% | 15% |
| Australia on Inland Revenue’s DTA country table (look up every other country on that table) | 10% marked f | 0, 5 or 15% marked f | 5% max, cultural royalties 5% f |
Source: Inland Revenue deduct NRWT at the right rate, NRWT rates for DTA countries, and IR291 March 2026. Do not copy a private firm’s full treaty grid. Open the NRWT rates for DTA countries table for the live country row.
f on the DTA table
Inland Revenue: the percentage is the final liability. If the correct NRWT is deducted and this is the recipient’s only income from New Zealand, no New Zealand tax return is required.
max on the DTA table
Inland Revenue: the amount deducted is not a final tax. It must go in a return of income. The NRWT deducted may not be reduced, because it is a minimum rate of tax under domestic law.
IR291 labelled example, Australian resident
Interest due on 10 March $1,000. NRWT to deduct on 10 March at 10% $100. Interest (net) payable $900. NRWT payable to Inland Revenue by 20 April $100.
Source: Inland Revenue NRWT payer’s guide IR291, March 2026, interest example.
IR291: deduct from the gross amount. Expenses such as commission and agent’s fees cannot come off before you calculate NRWT. Gross means without any deductions at all. Dividend NRWT is calculated on the gross dividend excluding imputation credits. That is the opposite shape from resident dividend RWT in IR284, which brings credits into the gross then offsets them.
IR291 also lists an exemption path: dividends paid to non resident persons that are non portfolio shareholders (direct voting interest above 10%) from 1 February 2010 that are also fully imputed, or under a double tax agreement, are exempt from tax. A fully imputed non cash dividend has no obligation to deduct or pay NRWT. Do not treat every fully imputed cash dividend as 0% unless that exemption actually fits. Inland Revenue’s NRWT and exemptions page: do not deduct if the person gives you a copy of the exemption letter Inland Revenue gave them.
Can approved issuer levy replace NRWT?
Inland Revenue’s approved issuer page: an approved issuer is someone who pays interest at a zero rate of NRWT. Instead of deducting NRWT they pay a levy on the securities they register. Approved issuers need to pay a levy of 2% on the interest of each registered security. They can claim a deduction of the 2% in their New Zealand income tax return if the interest that has been paid is tax deductible. IR291: the levy is generally 2 cents in every $1 of interest paid on a registered security, or any redemption payment on a bond issued at a discount. In certain cases a zero rate applies. All government stock qualifies for AIL.
Register approved issuer status in myIR, or use IR396 and register each security on IR397. Inland Revenue aims to process that registration within 20 working days. Pay on IR67A. IR291: if you deducted NRWT when you should have paid AIL, tell Inland Revenue in a covering letter so the extra can be transferred. BNZ and Westpac pages describe 10% or 15% for depositors, and an AIL election at the bank. That is the recipient view. The New Zealand payer still has to be an approved issuer with the security registered.
Joint account with a New Zealand resident
IR291: where the interest is earned by 2 or more people jointly and at least 1 of these persons is a New Zealand resident, RWT should be deducted at the appropriate rate from the total amount. Do not split the account into NRWT for the overseas holder and RWT for the resident on the same joint balance.
How do NZ payers register, file, and pay?
If you pay NRPI you must deduct NRWT and register as a payer. Inland Revenue’s register page: you need the IRD number, payer name, trade name if it differs, payment start dates, how often you will pay NRWT, and a contact. In myIR, select Register for Non resident withholding tax (NRT) under Registration, application and enrolment. Or download, sign, and post IR380 to Inland Revenue PO Box 39090 Wellington Mail Centre Lower Hutt 5045. Keep records for 7 years in English or Maori unless Inland Revenue approves another language: total NRPI, NRWT and the date deducted, recipient name and last known address, IRD number if they hold one, and each type and amount paid.
IR291: provide NRPI information electronically by the 20th of the following month it was paid (royalties excluded from that monthly investment income file). Royalty payments to non residents can be provided by 31 May after the end of the year. You are no longer required to file a nil return. There is a penalty of $250 each time investment income information is not supplied electronically and you do not have an exemption. Use the two letter country codes Inland Revenue publishes, because those codes feed double tax agreement information exchange.
Pull highlight. IR291: you must pay the NRWT to Inland Revenue by the 20th of the month following the payment of NRPI. If some contracts say the payer bears the tax, gross the income up. Inland Revenue’s labelled 15% example: net interest $170,000 becomes gross $200,000, and NRWT is $30,000.
Use case: Auckland Ltd, IR291 numbers
Situation: a labelled Auckland company pays interest to an Australian resident on 10 March. Amount due $1,000. Australia’s DTA interest row on Inland Revenue’s table is 10% marked f. Action: deduct $100 on 10 March, pay $900 net, and pay $100 to Inland Revenue by 20 April. Register as an NRWT payer first if you are not already on the NRT task in myIR. If this lender were associated, do not reach for AIL.
What people get stuck on
r/PersonalFinanceNZ mixes recipient bank elections with the payer’s register. BNZ and Westpac can offer 10% or 15%, or AIL at 2%, on deposits. Inland Revenue still requires the New Zealand payer to register, and AIL only after approved issuer status and a registered security. Forum comments that “AIL is 2% for anyone who is not a tax resident” skip that register step. IR396 blocks AIL where the lender is associated.
PAS2008 correctly points at register, the 20th, and AIL at 2%. Drop its extra claim that every fully imputed dividend falls to 15%. Follow IR291: non portfolio fully imputed dividends from 1 February 2010 can be exempt, and a fully imputed non cash dividend has no NRWT to deduct. PwC’s long treaty table is useful as a map to the IRD DTA page, not as a substitute. JH Coleman’s 2015 related party paper is coverage of an old issues paper: today’s payer rule on associated persons is the IR396 tick, not that journal article. taxaccountant.kiwi.nz discusses management fees that might be royalties. If the payment fits Inland Revenue’s royalty definition it is NRPI. If it is contractor labour it is not.
IR291: NRWT is a final tax on dividends, cultural royalties, interest paid to persons who are not associated, and interest zero rated for NRWT because AIL applies. It is only a minimum tax on interest paid to associated persons, and on industrial and commercial royalties (including specialist knowledge or information, but not cultural royalties). Payers usually do not have to file the recipient’s return unless they are also the recipient’s agent. If a non resident company’s total New Zealand income from all sources (excluding dividends and cultural royalties) is $1,000 or less, the NRWT deducted is the final liability.