Calculators

When an employer must pay PAYE and file the pay run

Work out the two employer PAYE deadlines for a pay date.

PAYING and FILING are different deadlines and missing either has its own consequences.

Payday filing is due within TWO WORKING DAYS of the payday itself. The payment is due on the 20th of the following month for a monthly payer, or on the 20th and the 5th for a twice-monthly payer.

Which payer you are is decided by PAYE PLUS ESCT sent to Inland Revenue over the prior twelve months, not by the size of the payroll and not by headcount. The threshold is $500,000 of deductions. A business paying $2m in wages is usually still a monthly payer, so guessing from turnover gets it wrong.

Both dates shift off weekends and national public holidays, including Mondayised ones. Where a shift happened, payment_due_shifted_from and payday_filing_due_shifted_from show the date it moved from, so the answer can be checked rather than taken on trust. Regional anniversary days do not move a PAYE date and are deliberately excluded.

paper_filing_due is returned every time because paper filers work to a different rule, ten days from the end of the month.

post/v1/paye-due-dates

Request

  • Base URL: https://api.calculate.co.nz
  • URL: https://api.calculate.co.nz/v1/paye-due-dates
  • Auth: API key in header X-API-Key

Request body

pay_datestring required

The date employees are paid, ISO format YYYY-MM-DD. The payday, not the period end.

annual_paye_and_esctnumber

PAYE plus ESCT sent to Inland Revenue over the prior 12 months. Above $500,000 means twice-monthly.

electronic_filerboolean

Electronic filers have two working days. Paper filers have a different deadline.

Example request

{
  "annual_paye_and_esct": 180000,
  "electronic_filer": true,
  "pay_date": "2026-09-25"
}

Response

Both deadlines, and what a weekend or public holiday moved them from.

disclaimerstring required

Scope and limits of these dates.

Example response

{
  "disclaimer": "Dates on the standard employer rules, shifted for weekends and national public holidays only. Regional anniversary days do not move a PAYE date. Confirm against your myIR calendar. Not tax advice.",
  "result": {
    "inputs": {
      "annual_paye_and_esct": 180000,
      "electronic_filer": true,
      "pay_date": "2026-09-25"
    },
    "paper_filing_due": "2026-10-12",
    "pay_date": "2026-09-25",
    "payday_filing_due": "2026-09-29",
    "payer_reason": "PAYE plus ESCT of $180,000 over the prior 12 months is at or below the $500,000 threshold, so PAYE is paid once a month.",
    "payer_type": "monthly",
    "payment_due": "2026-10-20",
    "period": "Whole of September 2026"
  }
}

Changes

No recorded changes to this operation across all 1 revision of this API.