Enter your details to get a good estimate of what you might receive each week during leave. It includes tax, KiwiSaver, student loan, and the drop after week 26.
1Your income
2Deductions
3Partner
4Results
Your income & leave
Both are about you: your salary and how long you plan to be off.
Your annual salary
Before tax (gross)
How long will you take off?
PPL covers up to 26 weeks
After 26 weeks, PPL ends. Weeks 27+ are unpaid. Best Start ($77/wk) usually kicks in then.
Employment type
Affects how IRD calculates your PPL
Variable/self-employed: PPL is averaged across your 26 best-earning weeks
The government pays up to 26 weeks of PPL, capped at $788.66 gross/week (July 2025 to June 2026). If your weekly wage is below the cap, you receive your full weekly wage.
Enter your salary to continue.
Deductions from your PPL
IRD deducts these automatically before paying you
KiwiSaver contributions
Optional during leave, but IRD matches the employer part if you opt in
None
3%
4%
6%
8%
10%
Student loan
12% is deducted on earnings above the $24,000/yr threshold
No student loan
Yes, I have one
Employer top-up
Some employers top up PPL to your full salary, so it is worth checking your agreement
No top-up
Topped up to full salary
Partial top-up
Top-up amount
Weekly gross amount your employer adds
Extended employer paid leave
Does your employer continue paying you beyond the 26-week government PPL period?
No
Yes
How many extra weeks?
Paid weeks beyond week 26
At what rate?
What your employer pays during this period
Weekly gross amount
Partner's income (optional)
Adds your partner's take-home to get your full household picture during leave
Partner's annual salary
Before tax. Leave blank if they are also on leave, or if you only want your own income
We estimate their net take-home using NZ PAYE tax rates.
Best Start: $77/week for the first 3 years of your child's life. You cannot receive it while on PPL. It usually starts when your PPL payments end. Means-tested for families earning over $79,000/yr from April 2026.
Your estimated income during leave
Weekly figures after tax and deductions, based on IRD's published 2025-26 rates.
Your PPL weekly
—
Net, after tax & deductions
Household weekly
—
Your PPL + partner's income
Income difference
—
vs your normal household income
Income timeline
Govt PPL
Partner / Employer
Best Start
Wk 1Wk 13Wk 26Wk 52
Your income
Partner
Before baby
See week-by-week breakdown▼
Week
Phase
Your income (net)
Partner (net)
Household total
Rough guide only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates using IRD's published rates for 2025-26. Tax uses NZ PAYE brackets effective 1 April 2025 and an ACC levy of 1.6%. Please double-check with IRD or a financial adviser before making decisions.