Using the PayWren tax planner

The tax planner is a forward-looking tool for NZ provisional taxpayers. It lives at Tax Planner in the sidebar and gives a single view of:

- Provisional tax instalment dates and amounts - Standard uplift vs estimation method comparison - Safe harbour status - An ACC levy estimate - GST basis comparison (invoice vs payments) - Home office method comparison (square-metre rate vs actual costs) - Vehicle method comparison (kilometre rate vs logbook) - A log of tax payments recorded

The full planner is available on Solo plan and above. Free plan users get a preview with their real headline numbers (safe-to-spend, next instalment, ACC estimate, and the total value of opportunities found) with the detailed schedules and comparisons on Solo. It's NZ-only: it activates once your tax profile is set to New Zealand.

The timeline shows each provisional tax instalment for the current financial year: due date, amount, how much you've paid, and status (paid / due / overdue).

Instalment amounts use whichever method applies:

Standard uplift: 105% of last year's RIT (or 110% of the year before last) split equally across the three instalments. This appears once you've entered a prior-year RIT in the RIT entry panel at the bottom of the page.

Estimation: one-third of your projected current-year tax from PayWren records at each instalment date. Used when no prior-year RIT is entered.

For the FY ending 31 March 2027 (standard 31 March balance date), the three instalment dates are 28 August 2026, 15 January 2027, and 7 May 2027.

The reserve is how much PayWren estimates you need to keep liquid for upcoming tax obligations. It's the sum of:

- Net GST owing for the current filing period (GST on paid invoices minus GST credits from expenses, less any GST payments already logged) - Income tax accrued so far this year (projected annual tax × elapsed fraction of the financial year, less any provisional or terminal payments recorded) - Any overdue instalment amounts not yet paid

Alongside the reserve, the yours after tax figure shows your received revenue (excl GST) minus the income tax accrued to date. It's PayWren's estimate of what you've earned and can keep after provisioning for tax.

Below the instalment timeline, the planner has three optional comparison panels:

ACC levy estimate: shows Work levy, Earners' levy ($1.52/$100 excl GST for 2026/27), and Working Safer levy ($0.08/$100) based on your projected taxable profit. Enter your exact work levy rate from your ACC invoice for a sharper number. The ACC invoice arrives July–October after your IR3 is filed; it's separate from income tax.

Home office method: compares the IRD square-metre rate to actual costs (power, internet, insurance, mortgage interest or rent, council rates) at your office's floor-area share. Enter your annual household costs to see which method claims more for your situation.

Vehicle method: compares the kilometre rate (Tier 1 on the business share of the first 14,000 total km; Tier 2 beyond that) to actual classified vehicle expenses at your business-use percentage. Enter your business km, total km, and vehicle type.

Use the payment log to record each tax payment you make during the year:

- Choose the tax type: provisional, terminal, or GST - For provisional payments, link each entry to its instalment key (e.g. FY2027-P1) so the timeline marks it as paid - Logged payments reduce the reserve; unrecorded payments make the reserve look higher than it should

Use the RIT entry panel to enter your residual income tax from your most recently filed IR3. Entering it unlocks the standard uplift method and shows the safe-harbour-eligible amounts.

For more on provisional tax mechanics, visit /guides/provisional-tax-explained.