Admin and tax guides for New Zealand tradies: IRD obligations, GST registration, ACC levies, sole trader vs company structure, and record-keeping requirements.
KiwiSaver employer contributions rose to 3.5% on 1 April 2026 and now apply to members aged 16 and 17. What that costs a trade employer, worked through for a tradesperson and an apprentice, plus the stay-at-3% request, ESCT and the 4% step in 2028.
ACC sends CoverPlus invoices to the self-employed around September. The bill rests on your classification unit and the earnings on your IR3. How to check both, the 2026/27 work levy by trade, the full-time minimum, paying in instalments, and when CoverPlus Extra is worth a look.
Labour Day is Monday 26 October 2026. Whether each person on your crew gets a paid day off, time and a half, or a day in lieu turns on one test in the Holidays Act: would Monday otherwise have been a working day for them? The test, the pay, alternative holidays and a worked example.
