The NZ tax calendar for contractors: 2026-2027

Contracting in New Zealand comes with a handful of dates that actually matter, spread across the year and easy to lose track of. This page collects all of them for the 2026-2027 tax year: provisional tax, GST for each filing frequency, your income tax return, and terminal tax. Everything here assumes the standard 31 March year end, which is what almost every sole trader has.

How the tax year works

The New Zealand tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March. The 2026-27 year is 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Two calendars overlap during it: you're paying provisional tax and GST for 2026-27 as it happens, while also filing the return and settling any leftover tax for the year that just ended (2025-26). That overlap is why some of the dates below refer to last year's income.

Provisional tax dates

Most provisional taxpayers use the standard option and pay three instalments. If you file GST six-monthly, you pay two larger instalments instead, timed with your GST returns.

On the ratio option, or paying through AIM with two-monthly GST, instalments follow the six-date cycle: 28 June, 28 August, and 28 October 2026, then 15 January, 28 February, and 7 May 2027.

GST return dates

A GST return and its payment are due on the 28th of the month after your taxable period ends, with two standing exceptions: the period ending 31 March is due 7 May, and the period ending 30 November is due 15 January. Both exceptions exist to keep the dates clear of the summer holidays and year-end filing.

On the common two-monthly cycle (periods ending May, July, September, November, January, March):

If your two-monthly periods end on the even months instead, the same 28th-of-the-following-month rule applies; check your exact periods in myIR.

Your income tax return

The return for the year that ended 31 March 2026 (the IR3) is due 7 July 2026 if you file it yourself. With a tax agent you get an extension of time, usually to 31 March 2027.

Terminal tax

Terminal tax is the wash-up: whatever your 2025-26 return shows you still owe after provisional payments are counted. It's due 7 February 2027if you don't have a tax agent, or 7 April 2027 with one. 7 February 2027 is a Sunday, so Monday 8 February counts as on time.

All dates, one list

How Coffer helps

Coffer's dashboard shows your next IRD due dates with a countdown, matched to the GST filing frequency you set, and tracks how much is already set aside toward each one as your invoices are paid. The dates stop being something you have to remember. For the wider picture of what each of these payments actually is, start with NZ contractor tax, explained.