What are the IRD kilometre rates for 2027?
Not published yet. IRD sets each year's rates after the income year has ended, so the newest published set is the 2025-26 one: petrol 120 cents per kilometre and 37 cents per kilometre after 14,000 km, diesel 130 cents per kilometre and 38 cents per kilometre, petrol hybrid 90 cents per kilometre and 24 cents per kilometre, and electric 122 cents per kilometre and 23 cents per kilometre. The 2027 income year runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, and its rates are published once that year is over.
When will IRD publish the 2026-27 kilometre rates?
After the income year ends on 31 March 2027: IRD says it usually publishes the rates for the year just ended by May, and the last two sets were issued on 30 May 2025 and 5 June 2026. The timing matters because the rates are used in the return for the year they describe, so they arrive before that return is filed.
Do the 2025-26 rates still apply to a 2026-27 reimbursement?
For a reimbursement, yes. IRD's vehicle expenses guidance says the current rate applies until the new rate is provided, and the newest published rates are the 2025-26 ones: petrol 120 cents per kilometre for the business share of the first 14,000 km, then 37 cents per kilometre. A reimbursement still has to be a reasonable estimate of the employee's costs, which the published rates are accepted as being.
Will the 2027 IRD rates be higher than the current ones?
That cannot be known before IRD calculates them. The rates are built from third-party data on what vehicles actually cost to run in the income year — fuel, road user charges when they apply, insurance, interest on outlay, relicensing, tyres, and maintenance — rather than from an inflation index, so the next set follows those costs rather than a fixed upward path. The last set rose for all four vehicle types.
What is the 14,000 km threshold in the IRD rates?
Tier 1 applies to the business share of the first 14,000 kilometres the vehicle travels in the income year, and private travel counts towards that total. Beyond it, the Tier 2 rate applies to the business share of the remaining kilometres and covers running costs only, because the fixed costs of the vehicle are already inside the Tier 1 rate.
Does each vehicle type have its own IRD rate?
Petrol, diesel, petrol hybrid, and electric each have a Tier 1 and a Tier 2 rate. If the vehicle is not one of those four types, IRD requires the actual-costs method instead, so the kilometre rates cannot be used for it.
Is there extra guidance for 2026-27 employer reimbursements?
IRD says it is considering further guidance for reimbursements for the 2027 income year because fuel prices have risen, and that operational statements 19/04a and 19/04b are being reviewed and updated. In the meantime it accepts the 2025-26 rates or any other method that gives a reasonable estimate of the employee's costs, such as a blended average of the published rates for a mixed fleet.
Where will the 2026-27 rates appear first?
As an instrument on IRD's tax technical site, announced on ird.govt.nz, and reprinted in the Tax Information Bulletin: the 2025-26 rates came out as OS 19/04 (KM 2026), in force from 4 June 2026 and announced on 5 June 2026. This page is rewritten with the same vehicle types and tiers on publication day.