Casual labour is when someone is informally employed for a short period of time - usually doing low skill or low paid work. Usually the length of time the person is employed is 1 or 2 pay periods for any given job. Industries where casual labour is commonly used include (but are not limited to) construction and stevedoring. It would be expected that the employee's annual salary would be less than the personal tax exemption of $15,080.

In such situations the employer will not normally be required to deduct tax.

If the employer repeatedly employs the same person for casual work then PAYE should be deducted.

A person may be employed on a casual basis but receive a larger amount of income. This may occur where the work is technical or professional in nature. In these cases, if the level of income received is higher than the personal tax exemption then tax should be deducted.

If an employer is not sure of what to do in their specific circumstance then they should contact IRD.