Latest News
From my desk…
Season’s Greetings, Please call in if you are passing and try this year’s Christmas cake. Fonterra has produced a record result for our Dairy clients with an expected $10 plus daily payout for the 2024/2025 season. This along with the falling interest rates will provide challenges when it comes to income tax planning. Please book
The depreciable asset
The depreciation rate for non-residential buildings has been reduced to 0%, effective from the 2024 / 25 income year. However, commercial fit-out remains depreciable. This makes the distinction between the two important because it is the difference between not being able to deduct any depreciation at all versus being able to claim a good proportion
New product lines
It is important to regularly ask whether you are providing the products that your customers want and whether there are any new products that you could provide to ensure you are evolving with changing times as you look for the next income stream. There are plenty of examples of new products meeting an unexpected demand
Changes in marginal tax thresholds
For the first time since 2010, personal tax rate thresholds will change from 31 July 2024. The change was announced as part of the 2024 budget. When personal tax thresholds are not regularly adjusted to take into account inflation or wage growth, individuals end up paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes over
Donating trading stock
What was a temporary tax concession relating to donated trading stock has now become a permanent one thanks to the enactment of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Act 2024 on 1 April 2024. Prior to March 2020, in most cases, if a business donated trading stock it resulted in
Employee Share Schemes
For businesses that trade through a company, circumstances might arise in which the shareholders consider selling a minority stake in the company to a key employee or group of employees. This could be to ensure that key talent is ‘locked in’ for the long term, as a means of succession if the existing shareholders are
Non-BAU transactions
BAU is a phrase that is used to describe “business as usual”. It is a good barometer of whether anything strange or unusual has occurred or whether things have been BAU. Invariably, non BAU transactions will occur: an insurance payout, a large asset purchase, a fine or a penalty. This then leads to the question
Inland Revenue activity
After a relatively quiet few years through the Covid pandemic, Inland Revenue’s (IR) audit activity has slowly started to increase over the past few years. In 2021, IR’s campaign had a focus on the real estate sector, where the concern was around real estate agents claiming a disproportionately large amount of expenses relative to their
From my desk…
Greetings, Finally – a drop in the O.C.R. has signaled that we have had enough pain. This cut was predicted by most of the market however some banks economists thought it was too soon. I for one am very happy to see the start of the O.C.R. cuts with some banks estimating at least 1%
Snippets – Questionable spending?
Rates are rising across the country, with a recent economist’s report showing an average expected rise of 15%. This is the largest rise the country has seen since 2003, which begs the question, where is all the money going? Inflated construction costs and widening responsibilities take the majority of the blame, but one can’t help
Snippets – Changes to bright-line rules
Along with changes to the interest deductibility rules, legislation has been passed which repeals the current bright-line tests, replacing them with a new (or old) 2-year test. There were previously three separate bright-line tests which applied to the sale of residential land: Land acquired on or after 27 March 2021 that is not a ‘new
Government reverses interest deductibility limitations
With the new Government now firmly settled in, legislation has been passed which reverses the interest deductibility limitation rules that were introduced by the previous government in 2021. As previously introduced, the rules phased out the ability to deduct interest on loans drawn down before 27 March 2021 to purchase residential property over a period
