From 01 March 2020, the IRD will no longer accept cheques. Developments in electronic payment methods and improved ease of online payments from your smartphone or tablet, means processing cheque payments has become a rather laborious task. However old habits die hard, and a significant amount of people continue to use cheques – IRD alone […]
IRD – Non acceptance of cheques Read More »
Family Trusts are used widely in New Zealand; often being viewed as beneficial for asset protection and to keep assets in the family for future generations. A reason for their popularity has been the relative simplicity of the legal and tax regime. However, the rules are evolving. In addition to the widely publicised re-write of
Is a Trust beneficiary also a settlor? Read More »
Two recent (connected) cases at the Taxation Review Authority (TRA) demonstrate that unnecessarily complex transactions can raise a red flag for IRD. Both cases related to a taxpayer referred to as Mr Brown, who acquired a 2/3 interest in a joint venture known as the NPN Partnership (NPN) back in 1981. NPN held several residential
Court case – tax avoidance arrangement Read More »
Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) on privately used vehicles is neither new nor rare. However, errors in FBT calculations are common due to the murky and complicated nature of the rules and principles that apply. Generally, FBT is payable when a business-owned vehicle is available for private use by an employee. The availability component of this
Finicky Bothersome Tiresome (FBT) Read More »
It is common from a layman’s perspective to not appreciate the relevance of treating separate legal entities as separate. Where expenditure is incurred to derive income, it is typically deductible for income tax purposes to the person that derived the income. Documentary evidence should be held that reflects this connection to ensure the expenditure comprises
You versus your Trust Read More »
Inland Revenue (IRD) charges a high rate of interest on late tax payments (currently 8.22%), and in some circumstances the complexity of the provisional tax regime makes interest charges hard to avoid. Add on late payment penalties, and the cost of meeting your tax obligations starts to feel punitive. Tax pooling was introduced in 2003
Broadly speaking, a payment from a company to a shareholder is likely to be a salary / wage or a dividend, and therefore taxable income. However, loans from a shareholder to a company and therefore loan repayments are also commonplace. Whilst interest on such loans is taxable to the recipient, loan repayments should not be.
Payments to Shareholders Read More »
The Tax Working Group (TWG) released its long awaited Final Report (‘the Report’) on 21 February 2019, following a 13 month review during which the Group received over 7,000 public submissions. The report contained 99 recommendations for the Government’s consideration; including the introduction of a broad Capital Gains Tax (‘CGT’). Two months later the coalition
The global economy is seeing New Zealand (NZ) taxpayers invest in overseas companies. However, many people acquire foreign investments without understanding how they will be taxed. Taxpayers that purchase shares in a foreign company should ensure they are familiar with the Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) rules. The FIF regime was introduced to prevent NZ taxpayers
The MBIE Labour Inspectorate have recently announced that they are going to prioritise employer compliance with the Holiday Pay Act. They expect businesses to calculate leave and holiday pay entitlements accurately. However, a growing number of non-compliance cases suggest that this is easier said than done, with both small and large businesses finding the rules
