How much of the KiwiSaver government contribution am I short of?

The number most sources still get wrong

It was 50 cents and $521.43. Budget 2025 halved it from 1 July 2025 and added an income test. Anyone working from the old figure is wrong by exactly half, and a great many pages still print it. If you have read $521 somewhere recently, that page has not been updated.

Three traps, all of them IRD's own words

Employer contributions do not count. Neither do past government contributions, nor funds transferred from an Australian scheme. Only money you contributed yourself.

The qualifying year is 1 July to 30 June — not the 1 April tax year the rest of New Zealand PAYE runs on. Two different years, one payslip.

Income test: nothing at all if your taxable income is over $180,000. Ages 16 to 65, pro-rated by days if you join or age in or out mid-year.

Where the shortfall starts

At the 3.5% default rate you need roughly NZ$29,796 of salary before your deductions alone reach $1,042.86. Below that you fall short without ever being told. On $25,000 you contribute $875, are $167.86 short, and lose $41.97 of the government's money.

This one cannot be backdated

Unlike the others here, there is no recovering a past year. What there is, is a deadline: a voluntary top-up before 30 June closes the gap for the year you are in. That is an action available today and unavailable on 1 July.