Explaining non-resident withholding tax (NRWT) and the approved issuer levy (AIL)

Non-resident withholding tax (NRWT) is a tax that is deducted from the interest that you, as a non-resident customer, earn from BNZ.

It includes interest you earn on any BNZ deposit accounts you hold, including savings accounts and term deposits.

The NRWT rate that we’ll apply is based on your country of residence, as advised by you. Typically this is either 10% or 15%, but it will be based on the tax treaty between New Zealand and your country of residence.

Alternatively, non-resident customers can elect to have the Approved Issuer Levy (AIL) applied to their interest, at the rate of 2%. Find out more about AIL on the Inland Revenue (IRD) website.

You can elect NRWT or AIL at the time you open your account. If you wish to elect or change to AIL, you must complete an ‘Authorisation to Deduct Approved Issuer Levy’ form (PDF 67.2 KB). You can fill out this form in any one of our branches, or post it to us.

If you’re a New Zealand resident you will most likely have a different tax rate. Find out more about Resident Withholding Tax (RWT).

Important: The information on this page is general in nature and does not constitute specific tax advice to any person. To the extent that any such information constitutes financial advice, it does not take into account any person's particular financial situation or goals. We recommend you obtain independent tax advice for your own circumstances. BNZ does not accept any liability for the use of, or reliance on, this information.