[suebeenz]

I didn't expect this to happen so quickly. Heads up if you've been snoozing ...

Anybody have first hand experience with filing after the deadline, and getting away without penalties? I called them today, and they said, "File when you can, then we'll talk to see if we can adjust penalties." Yikes.

[Super_BQ]

It doesn't hurt to overpay the tax. IRD will refund you the difference and you'll have no penalty. Usually the accountant should know how much you need to pay in terminal taxes.

Of course if you're the average working laymen, you're not required to file a tax return as income is already taxed at sources.

BQ

[eternalkiwi]

As BQ said, salary & wage earners do not have to complete a Tax Return at the end of the year, though you may elect to. Filing a tax return can be useful if your income has changed or fluctuated during the year.

If you are in business, you need to file your business tax return by 7 July and pay your terminal tax by 7 February (assuming a 31 March Balance Date).

[suebeenz]

I'm unfortunately one of those who will have to pay since I don't get NZ taxes taken off my paychecks.

That's an interesting idea cutting them a check, and hopefully getting a refund once I'm able to get all the paperwork together.

[willowshouse]

Hmm,

What period of time will you be filing for at the end of March 2007? Does the tax year start and finish in April?

So far I have only earnt one wage packet (to end of Feb) and so will have two in hand to the end of March. I am presuming that I will get some tax back because I will have been taxed like I have earnt 12 paychecks instead of just the 2 .. is this an automatic thing? Do I have to file a return to get it?

Duh!

[Trigirl]

I will have been taxed like I have earnt 12 paychecks instead of just the 2

are you sure this has happened?? if it has then you will have to file a return to get a refund.

[willowshouse]

Maybe I'm confused between UK and NZ? In UK I would expect an amount of say £5,000 personal allowance which would mean if I had earnt less than that in my two months of work I would not pay any tax.

In Feb I paid about 1/3 of my wages in tax.

I must admit I have not looked into the taxation system here at all and I am being very lazy in asking instead of looking into it myself! Do they not have a personal allowance here?

Anyway .. on the filing of returns, is it a year in arrears like in UK? You would file before end of March 2007 for period April 2005-March 2006??

Cheers.

[Trigirl]

no there is no personal allowance here. you pay 19.5% on your first 38k, 33% on the next 22k and 39% after that plus 1.3% ACC levy on everything (up to about $100k)

i actually went and looked at mine today after reading your message and i've been taxed as though i'd worked here all year. as i'll only do 2 months before the end of the year i should have been paying 19.5% + ACC but I've actually paid about 30% total. so i'll be another one needing a refund.

what you have to do is request a "personal tax summary" which you can do online after the end of the tax year. its not the same as people who have untaxed income like sue - they need to fill in a tax return. we just need the IRD to do a tax summary and send us a refund!

[Moorf]

I assume the forms will be sent to me in the post?

Am a newbie to self-employed tax/records here and it'll be my first time filling it in, although Woz thought that it was a lot easier than the UK when he did his last year.

Thanks for tip on asking for summary online! :nice1

[eternalkiwi]

IRD's IR3's for self-employed and businesses is sent to you near year end.

The form is reasonably straight forward to complete, (though that is easy for me to say), and is basically a summarised set of accounts and some standard information on your personal income etc.

[willowshouse]

Thanks Trigirl ..

I have kids at school and their contributions are tax deductable so I'll have to find out whether I need to file a return or just the summary you mentioned.

Cheers.

[eternalkiwi]

If you are a Salary or Wage earner and want to claim a rebate for Donations, you simply need to complete a rebate claim form (IR526) with relevant receipts.

IRD will verify the receipts and calculate your rebate.
- for donations of $1,500 or more, your rebate will be $500
- if you've paid $940 or more for childcare or a housekeeper, your rebate will be $310.

Shawn

[sidabrine]

i actually went and looked at mine today after reading your message and i've been taxed as though i'd worked here all year. as i'll only do 2 months before the end of the year i should have been paying 19.5% + ACC but I've actually paid about 30% total. so i'll be another one needing a refund.

what you have to do is request a "personal tax summary" which you can do online after the end of the tax year.

Ow, excellent, I'm exactly in the same situation! How do they issue the tax refund? Do they deposit it to your account or send a cheque? When is the end of the tax year?

And can you get tax rebates for less than 1500$ donations?

[jubjub]

We had a refund, it was just popped into our bank account... they give a deadline of ten weeks to look at your claim, and ours was paid back right on the deadline.

[zardell]

When exactly is the end of the NZ tax year (IE UK 6th April) and has anyone got a link for the IRD refunds for p.a.y.e please.


Cheers,

Julie

xx

[Trigirl]

31st March.

If all you have earned is standard salary, interest etc then you need to fill out a request (online) to get a personal tax summary.

http://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-individual/itaxsalaryandwage-personaltaxsummary.html

[jubjub]

Trigirl said it for me.....

need to type faster.....

[zardell]

31st March.

If all you have earned is standard salary, interest etc then you need to fill out a request (online) to get a personal tax summary.

http://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-individual/itaxsalaryandwage-personaltaxsummary.html



Goodness me, what a quick response :clap

Thank you so much.:nice1

Julie

xx

[zardell]

Cheers Sal, but you need to type a bit quicker.......LOL

Julie

xx

[zardell]

Trigirl said it for me.....

need to type faster.....

Oooops.......so do I !!

:laugh :laugh :laugh

Julie

xx

[sidabrine]

Completely off topic. Trigirl, can I ask you what camera do you own? Your pictures on Flickr are really beautiful (all of them), it seems that your camera is able to bring out natural light very well (not that there's no sign of photographer's skill in your pictures!)

[sidabrine]

Ok, got it. Canon EOS 400D Digital. Seems like an excellent camera!

[Trigirl]

hi sidabrine - thank you so much! yes its a canon eos400d. it does handle the light really well - especially with the 50mm lens on it. i got it when i first arrived in NZ so i've been practising hard for the last 3 months (so many lovely things to take photos of!)

[suebeenz]

As BQ said, salary & wage earners do not have to complete a Tax Return at the end of the year, though you may elect to. Filing a tax return can be useful if your income has changed or fluctuated during the year.

If you are in business, you need to file your business tax return by 7 July and pay your terminal tax by 7 February (assuming a 31 March Balance Date).

When payment is needed is another source of confusion for me. I spoke to an accountant today who explained to me that I (not a business) wouldn't need to file until Jul 07, and that I wouldn't need to pay until Nov 07. He also stated that if I used an accountant to help me prepare, that I would get an automatic extension of March 31, 2008. Take it for what it's worth, but that's what he told me.

The tricky part is if the delta between your foreign assessed tax is $2000NZ less than your NZ assessed tax, you'd be required to make provisional payments throughout the year, so the above dates go on the window. He mentioned something like "If you don't realize you have to make provisional payments your first year, they are usually lenient"

Again, please take it all with a grain of salt. I'm going to see what other accountants have to say as well.

[eternalkiwi]

For employees, the due date for most people is 7 February following the end of the tax year (31 March).

If at the end of the tax year you owe over $2000 tax (Terminal Tax) you will have to pay Provisional Tax during the next year. Provisional Tax is a prepayment of your tax requirements for the current tax year and works on a similar basis to PAYE.

Provisional Tax is usually paid by businesses, though some Salary & Wage earners who have a significant amount of income not taxed at source or taxed at a lower rate they may also fall within the Provisional Tax rules.

For businesses (e.g. people or entities that file IR3 or IR4 tax returns), the due date for filing your tax return is 7 July and the payment of (Terminal) tax is due on 7 February of the following year.

Everyone has the option of using a tax agent or accountant to complete their affairs. If you have a tax agent you will have until 7 April to pay, as accountants and tax agents have an extension of time agreement that allows them to file tax returns during the year in stages until the 31 March the following year.
The terminal tax filing and payment dates still apply if you pay Provisional Tax.

[suebeenz]

For employees, the due date for most people is 7 February following the end of the tax year (31 March).

If at the end of the tax year you owe over $2000 tax (Terminal Tax) you will have to pay Provisional Tax during the next year. Provisional Tax is a prepayment of your tax requirements for the current tax year and works on a similar basis to PAYE.

Provisional Tax is usually paid by businesses, though some Salary & Wage earners who have a significant amount of income not taxed at source or taxed at a lower rate they may also fall within the Provisional Tax rules.

For businesses (e.g. people or entities that file IR3 or IR4 tax returns), the due date for filing your tax return is 7 July and the payment of (Terminal) tax is due on 7 February of the following year.

Everyone has the option of using a tax agent or accountant to complete their affairs. If you have a tax agent you will have until 7 April to pay, as accountants and tax agents have an extension of time agreement that allows them to file tax returns during the year in stages until the 31 March the following year.
The terminal tax filing and payment dates still apply if you pay Provisional Tax.

Thanks for that post - very helpful

Cheers

[jackie m]

Husband had tax rebate come through yay:clap Then boo not been here for complete year. Only arrived September started work in November 2006 so now filling out ir3. Question do I put all the interest we earned on our savings not that they lasted long once we brought our house:confused: Just need advice many thanks in advance
Jackie

[IanW99]

Hi Jackie, you don't say where your savings were earning interest?

If it was in UK and you are eligible for the four year tax exemption then no you don't need to put your interest on the IR3.

If it was in NZ, then yes you do need to include it. You should have recieved an RWT from your bank that you can use to fill in question 13.

I think that if you earned a very small amount of interest then they won't be bothered but its something like only $20 so probably not relevant?

I assume that you are filling in tax return for April 2006-March 2007 and have got an extension of time as it should have been returned by 7th July?

Ian