A standard data policing check completed by Inland Revenue is to review taxpayer GST filing patterns to identify taxpayers that are GST registered, but perhaps shouldn’t be. In order to qualify for GST registration, a taxpayer needs to be conducting a “taxable activity”. This comprises a continuous or regular activity that involves making a [...]
Legislation has recently been passed that will strengthen the protection subcontractors have that they will receive retention money owed to them should the head contractor become insolvent. Retention money relates to money owed to a subcontractor that is retained by a head contractor, usually a percentage of the contract value, to ensure work is [...]
The leaky homes crisis represents one of the most severe problems faced by New Zealand’s property sector and continues to cause stress and anxiety for those affected. Adding to the uncertainty for rental property owners has been the question of whether repair costs are immediately deductible as ’repairs and maintenance’ (R&M). Inland Revenue has [...]
The Taxation Principles Reporting Bill was introduced to parliament on 18 May 2023, and has since been reviewed by the Finance and Expenditure committee. If passed, it will require the Commissioner of Inland Revenue to report on New Zealand’s current tax settings based on specific principles. A hybrid reporting model will be used where [...]
Given that either Labour or National are likely to enter into coalition agreements of some form with the Green Party and Act, respectively, and the tax policies of the two main parties are more ‘vanilla’, it is worth reviewing the tax policies of the two minor parties as this is where unexpected change may [...]
The buoyant covid subsidy funded days are behind us, New Zealand has entered a ‘technical’ recession. This was reinforced by the recent announcement that New Zealand’s corporate tax paid was almost 11% down in the 11 months to May relative to Government expectations. A drop in the corporate tax take reflects the declining profits [...]
Using a trust to manage and protect a family’s business and personal assets has been a common practice in New Zealand. However, with the recent increase in the amount of information required to be supplied to Inland Revenue, and now the Government’s decision, as part of its 2023 Budget, to increase the trust tax [...]
In response to the adverse weather events that hit in January and February this year, a number of tax concessions were released on 14 March 2023 in an attempt to provide some relief to those who were impacted. The events have been collectively given the legislated name “North Island flooding events”, which has been [...]
On 31 March 2023, Inland Revenue released a draft interpretation statement (PUB00417) addressing the deductibility of land holding costs - namely, interest, rates and insurance - and the relevance of whether the land is taxed on disposal. This had been an area of uncertainty since the introduction of the residential bright-line provisions in 2015, which [...]
The call for action regarding climate change and mitigating man’s negative impact on the planet is not new. However, there has been a shift in the last few years. It has moved from being a focus of ‘greenies’ and the ‘young’ to being accepted by the mainstream population as something that can no longer be [...]
