PIE Save vs Save: different tax, different returns

There’s two ways to save with Sharesies. But there’s one big difference: how your returns get taxed.

Sharesies Save and PIE Save both offer flexibility with no minimums and no fixed terms. Returns are calculated daily and paid monthly. Your money is held in trust with AA- rated, NZ-based banks. So why are they different?

Short answer: tax. Here's how it works.

How Save is taxed

• Save pays interest, currently 2.80% p.a.

• Interest is taxed at your personal income tax rate, anywhere from 10.5% to 39%.

• Tax comes off as Resident Withholding Tax (RWT) before interest lands in your account.

• The higher your income, the more tax you’ll pay.

How PIE Save is taxed

• PIE Save pays a return, currently 2.80% p.a. (after fees, before tax).

• Your savings sit in a Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE), a structure with its own tax rules.

• PIEs don't use your income tax rate. They use your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR): 10.5%, 17.5% or 28%.

• 28% is the ceiling. If you're in the 30%, 33% or 39% income tax bracket, your PIE Save returns are still taxed at 28%.

Same $10,000, two accounts

Here’s an example of what you could keep after one year (rounded, with an initial deposit of $10,000, with both accounts paying 2.80% p.a. and your PIR matching your tax rate (capped at 28%).

Same rate, same deposit, different take-home. On the 10.5% and 17.5% income tax rates, nothing changes: your PIR matches your tax rate. From the 30% income tax rate up, the 28% PIR cap for PIE Save kicks in and the gap opens. 

Earn more than $78,100 a year? You're in the 33% bracket or higher, where the cap does the most work. Put another way: at the 39% income tax rate, you'd need a savings account paying 3.30% to match PIE Save's after-tax return. At 33% it's 3.01%, and at 30% it's 2.88%. This is known as the ‘effective rate of return’. 

Four things worth knowing

1. Rates move. Both rates are subject to change, and when they shift, the numbers above shift too.

2. Your PIR matters. It's based on your income over the last two tax years, so it can differ from your current tax rate. Set it too low and IRD can ask for the difference. Set it too high and you pay more than you need to. IRD's website has a quick PIR tool.

3. PIE Save withdrawals take longer. Because of the PIE structure, moving money out of PIE Save into your Wallet can take up to 1 business day to process. Transfers from Save to your Wallet are instant.

4. Different structures. Save is a savings account. PIE Save is an investment in a managed fund structure, issued by Sharesies Investment Management Limited. The product disclosure statement has the full detail.

Source: , rates as at 21 October 2026.