Inland Revenue have continued evaluating their accepted payment options for tax payments. (See our blog posts from 26 October 2018 & 26 April 2019 for more on this).

Statistics show cheques are falling out of favour as a payment method. According to IRD they account for a mere 5% of all payments they receive. Of those, some who have made tax payments by cheque have also made payments by other means.

Inland Revenue have been busy implementing their Business Transformation Programme, a multi-stage project designed to modernise the tax system. By streamlining processes and upgrading online services, they aim to make it easier for New Zealanders to manage their tax obligations.

As part of the latest updates to myIR (Inland Revenue's secure online tax platform) they have made changes to how they manage mail to their customers.

Be aware of "accidental" tax refunds which may have been issued over the Easter and ANZAC public holiday period.

There have been reported instances of people receiving unexpected refunds from Inland Revenue, with a high chance these were paid in error and needing to be paid back.

We posted a blog article on 26 October 2018, regarding Inland Revenue's announcement they would no longer be accepting post-dated cheques from 1 February this year.

Following feedback Inland Revenue received in response to this decision, they have now put this change on hold while they review all non-electronic payment methods, to ensure these are still relevant and necessary.

Inland Revenue's ongoing and far-reaching tax system overhaul includes streamlining efforts aimed at individuals. The changes will simplify and largely automate end-of-year tax obligations for PTS (Personal Tax Summary) and IR3 filers.

Inland Revenue will soon be running a Disaster Recovery (DR) test across their online customer channels. The purpose of the test is to ensure Inland Revenue is able to continue its operations in the event of a disaster.

Inland Revenue have announced that from 1 February 2019 they will no longer accept post-dated cheques for tax payments.

Previously Inland Revenue would honour post-dated cheques by not presenting them until the date shown, allowing customers to submit cheque payments ahead of their tax due date.

However with the increased use of electronic methods for making payments, Inland Revenue want to encourage their customers to make the switch from using cash and cheques.

If you are linked to Inland Revenue's myIR you may receive correspondence via the online service notifying you of upcoming tax payments, or credits available for refund. However if you are also with a tax agent or accounting firm these notices have the potential to cause issues.

Inland Revenue have advised the problems with their online system for filing GST returns have now been resolved.

They acknowledge myIR has been slow or unavailable recently, which may have caused frustration and inconvenience to customers who have been trying to use the online services.

Due to these issues, Inland Revenue have confirmed they will not apply late filing and late payment penalties to GST returns due yesterday for the period ended 31 May 2018, if they are filed and payments made by Wednesday, 4 July.

They apologise to their customers for any negative impact the service issues have had.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR BUSINESSES AND EMPLOYERS! Some of Inland Revenue's services will be unavailable from Thursday 12 April until the morning of Tuesday 17 April.

IRD have issued a notice advising some customers may have been incorrectly issued with Late Payment Grace period letters on 18 May 2017.

The affected GST periods are 31 March 2017 and 30 April 2017, and the respective letters advise the following:

Inland Revenue are currently sending texts and letters to taxpayers, advising them of the upcoming 7 April due date for tax payments.

Please note that the details Inland Revenue holds about the amount you owe may not necessarily be correct. Their system does not always report the correct amount of tax owing, with tax transfers and penalties often being missed.

You may therefore receive a notice of an amount to pay which differs from what we have advised you.  If you are uncertain about how much you need to pay, please give us a call or send us an email and we will confirm for you the correct amount.

If you have made a GST payment for the period ended 31 January 2017 and the amount has not yet been deducted from your bank account, note that Inland Revenue have posted the following message on their website homepage:

"There is a delay in processing direct debit payments for GST due 28 February. No penalties will be charged if your payment was requested on or before the due date. The debit should appear in your bank account tomorrow."

If you are still concerned about incurring penalties, we are only a phone call or e-mail away – we'll be happy to help.

Source:

www.ird.govt.nz

The "hidden economy" of cash jobs and undeclared income remains a strong focus for Inland Revenue, who are scrutinising the construction industry for record keeping and tax compliance.

Inland Revenue have launched another advertising campaign to encourage subcontractors to pay their income tax or risk facing punishment. The campaign also encourages people to confidentially report cash deals and other types of non-taxed contracting.

Inland Revenue have advised they will be writing to construction businesses to remind them of their obligations to declare all their income - no matter how big or small - when they file their GST and/or income tax returns.