Contractor Onboarding Checklist NZ: Gateway Test, IR330C, GST and HSWA
This is what most New Zealand businesses collect from a contractor before they start. Not every item applies to every job. A freelance writer and a labour-only builder need different paperwork, so cut the list to suit the work.
Two things run through all of it. Check the person really is a contractor, and check what they give you against the official register, not just the piece of paper.
1. Check they really are a contractor
Do this first, because the rest of the list assumes the answer is yes.
Since 21 February 2026, Employment New Zealand says to start with the gateway test. It came in with the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026. A worker who meets all five criteria is a specified contractor, not an employee:
| Criterion | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Written agreement | It says they are an independent contractor, or that they are not an employee |
| Free to work for others | They can work for someone else, just not at the same time as they work for you |
| Choice of when, or who | They can choose when to work, or subcontract the work. You can vet a substitute only for legal or job-related qualifications, or a criminal record |
| Can say no | They can turn down extra work without the arrangement ending |
| Independent advice | They had a reasonable chance to get independent advice before signing |
If any criterion isn't met, the older common law test applies, and the worker can still be a contractor under it. It looks at the real nature of the relationship through four tests: intention, control versus independence, integration, and the fundamental or economic reality. As the page puts it, "No one test will give you the correct answer."
The gateway test isn't retrospective. For an arrangement that started before 21 February 2026, the common law test covers the time before that date, and both tests apply from it.
2. A signed contract
Under the gateway test the written agreement is the first criterion, not a formality. Give the contractor time to get advice before they sign, and keep a record that you did.
At a minimum the contract should cover the scope of work, how and when you pay, who supplies tools and materials, the insurance you expect them to hold, and who owns what they produce. Write it to match how the work will actually run. A clause saying they can turn down work, next to a roster they are expected to fill, works against you.
3. Schedular payments and the IR330C
Most contractors invoice you and pay their own tax. Some kinds of work are different. Inland Revenue calls them schedular payments: payments to contractors for listed activities, mainly the supply of labour. For those, you deduct tax before you pay.
The contractor gives you a Tax rate notification for contractors (IR330C). It carries their IRD number, their activity and their tax rate. The IR330C form lists every activity. Some common ones:
| Activity | Standard rate | No IR330C |
|---|---|---|
| Labour-only contracts in the building industry | 20% | 45% |
| Cleaning offices and other non-residential premises | 20% | 45% |
| Payments by a labour hire business | 20% | 45% |
| New Zealand resident entertainers and presenters | 20% | 45% |
| Freelance contributions (articles, photographs) | 25% | 45% |
| Company directors' fees | 33% | 45% |
A contractor can choose their own rate instead of the standard one, but not below 10% without a tailored tax rate, or 15% if they are a non-resident or on a temporary entry class visa. A contractor whose work isn't on the list can agree with you in writing to voluntary schedular payments.
You file the deduction in your employment information within 2 working days of paying if you file electronically, and pay it to Inland Revenue with your PAYE. Don't send the IR330C to Inland Revenue: you keep it.
4. No IR330C means 45%
If a contractor doing a listed activity hasn't given you an IR330C, you deduct at the no-notification rate of 45%, or 20% for a non-resident contractor company. The same applies to a form missing their details or signature.
Ask for the form before the first invoice, not after. A contractor who loses 45% of their first payment will tell you about it.
5. GST registration and GST number
A business must register for GST once its turnover reaches $60,000 in 12 months, or is expected to. Below that, registering is voluntary.
Ask whether they are registered and, if so, for their GST number. It tells you whether their invoices should include GST. For a sale over $200, a registered seller has to give you taxable supply information that includes their name and GST number. If they are registered and paid under the schedular rules, the tax deduction is worked out on the amount before GST.
6. NZBN, checked on the register
Every company has a New Zealand Business Number already. Sole traders, partnerships and trusts can apply for one, so a sole trader may not have one.
Ask for it, then look the business up on the NZBN Register. Check the legal name and trading name match the contract and the invoices. For a company, the register's Primary Business Data can include its GST number, verified by Inland Revenue.
7. Public liability insurance
Business.govt.nz doesn't describe liability insurance as a legal requirement, but notes that in some industries the right insurance is a condition of getting a contract. Most businesses make public liability (also called general liability) a contract term. Professional indemnity covers an honest professional mistake, such as bad advice, so ask for it where they advise, design or certify.
Ask for the current certificate and note its expiry date. Check the insured name and the level of cover against what your contract asks for. A policy that lapses mid-job is the usual gap.
8. Trade licences and registration
Regulated trades have their own boards and public registers. The three you'll meet most:
| Trade | What to ask for | Check it |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted building work | Restricted building work on a home's structure or weathertightness must be done or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP). Ask for their current licence ID, digital or printed. Licences are renewed every year | Find an LBP, and check they are licensed in the right class |
| Electrical work | All electrical workers must hold a practising licence to do prescribed electrical work. It is granted for 2 years | The Electrical Workers Registration Board register |
| Plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying | A current practising licence. The licensing year runs 1 April to 31 March | The PGDB public register |
Collect a copy with its expiry date, then check it on the register. A photo of a licence shows what the licence says, not whether it is current today.
9. Health and safety (HSWA)
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a contractor and their workers are classed as workers of the business that engages them. You and the contractor are each a PCBU (a person conducting a business or undertaking), and you will often share duties for the same work. WorkSafe calls these overlapping duties.
Where duties overlap, you must consult, cooperate and coordinate with the other PCBU, so far as is reasonably practicable. You can't contract out of your duties. In practice that means:
- Checking a contractor's health and safety record before you engage them, not just their price.
- Agreeing who manages which risk, and writing it into the contract.
- Making sure their workers know your site rules, emergency procedures and who to report to.
- Monitoring that each party does what was agreed.
Record the date each person completed your induction.
10. Bank details
Account name and the full account number: bank, branch, account and suffix, for example 12-3456-0123456-00.
Invoice scams target exactly this. Someone poses as your contractor and asks you to pay a new account. The National Cyber Security Centre says to treat a change of bank details as suspicious and check it using a number you already have or one publicly listed, not the details in the email. Put any change through a second person's sign-off before the next payment goes.
Treat account numbers as sensitive. They shouldn't sit in an inbox or a shared spreadsheet.
11. Keep the records
Keep a completed IR330C for seven years after the last schedular payment you make to that contractor. Inland Revenue's general rule is to keep business records for at least 7 years.
Once there's no longer a reason to keep personal information, privacy principle 9 says not to hold it. A legal duty to keep a record, like the IR330C rule, is a reason.
Rules change, and depend on the work, the trade and the size of your business. Treat this as general information, not legal or tax advice, and check anything borderline with Inland Revenue, Employment New Zealand, WorkSafe or your accountant. Taking on employees rather than contractors? See the new employee onboarding checklist, right to work in New Zealand and police vetting and criminal record checks.
What WorkZerk does and doesn't do
WorkZerk keeps the paperwork side of this in one place:
- Each contractor gets one private link and sends everything from their phone, with no account or password.
- They sign your contract on the same page, by typed name or drawn signature.
- Insurance certificates and licences carry an expiry date, saved to the contractor's contact record so they are never asked twice.
- WorkZerk's AI check reads the expiry date on an upload and flags it when it differs from the date typed in. You approve every document.
- WorkZerk can email the contractor before a certificate or licence expires and ask for the new one.
- The IR330C, IRD number and bank account number are marked sensitive: stored encrypted, and only admins can open them.
What it does not do: WorkZerk doesn't decide anyone's employment status, run the gateway test, work out schedular deductions, file employment information, check a GST number with Inland Revenue, look a business up on the NZBN Register, confirm cover with an insurer, check a licence on the LBP, EWRB or PGDB register, or pay anyone. Those stay with you and your accountant.
Setting it up in WorkZerk
1. Turn on two-factor authentication
Asking people to upload documents needs two-factor authentication on your account. Set it up under Account, then Two-factor authentication (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab).
2. Add the New Zealand contractor pack
Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab), click Request packs, and open Start from a template. Pick New Zealand and add Contractor onboarding (New Zealand). It asks for:
- Tax rate notification for contractors (IR330C), optional and marked sensitive, for contractors paid under the schedular payment rules. It links to Inland Revenue's IR330C page.
- IRD number, optional, saved to a sensitive IRD number field on the contact record.
- Are you registered for GST?, a required yes or no, and GST number, optional, saved to a GST number field.
- NZBN, optional, saved to an NZBN field on the contact record.
- Public liability insurance, required, with an expiry date.
- Trade licence or registration, optional, with an expiry date.
- Professional indemnity insurance, optional, with an expiry date.
- Account name and Account number, with the account number marked sensitive.
The three uploads with expiry dates save to fields on the contact record, so they count across every portal. Starter request packs lists the full pack.
The pack doesn't ask for a health and safety record. Add an Upload request for it if your work needs one.
3. Add your contract
Write your contract in the Terms library (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab), then add a Terms request to the portal with a typed name or drawn signature. Each acceptance is tied to the version the contractor read. If your contract is already a PDF, use a Sign PDF request instead.
4. Ask each trade only for what applies
The pack has one Trade licence or registration upload. If you engage several trades, put a trade-specific Upload request with Require expiry on inside a Section limited to the people it applies to, so a cleaner isn't asked for an LBP licence. Add a Tasks request for your site induction. A contractor compliance walkthrough covers each piece.
5. Send the links and review
Add contractors to the portal and send each their link, or share a self-registration link. Uploads wait under Needs review on Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab). Check each one, look the licence up on the board's register and the business up on the NZBN Register, then approve.
6. Switch on the expiry reminders
Open Automations (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and switch on Document expiring reminder and Document expired reminder. Both start switched off. The expiring reminder goes 30 days before expiry by default, and stops once the new certificate arrives. See Automations.
7. Check who is covered
Open Requests (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab) and click Document compliance. Each contractor shows as current, expiring, needs review, expired or missing for each document. Use Download CSV when a client or main contractor asks for a register. See Document compliance.
8. Keep the IR330C long enough
Sensitive information is kept until you delete it unless you choose otherwise. If you set Delete sensitive information under Profile (opens in WorkZerk in a new tab), pick 7 years, and keep the portal open while you are still paying the contractor: the time counts from when the portal closes. See Keeping sensitive information private.
Getting started
Start a free WorkZerk trial at workzerk.com, then work through the steps above. If you get stuck, the getting started guide walks through a first portal end to end, or email us at [email protected].