Making it simpler to get reimbursed for your vehicle expenses

The Inland Revenue have recently made some changes to the calculation for reimbursing employees (which can inlcude owners) of small businesses for vehicle costs relating to business travel. Details on the new rules can be found here In essence the rules have been expanded to cover more than 5,000 kilometres per annum.  The new rate for up to 14,000 kilomteres per annum is 76 cents and after that it is…  Read more

Vehicle log books made easy

Record your log book easily utilising GPS technology. If you use a vehicle in your business that is not exclusively for business then you need to run a log book for 3 months every 3 years detailing your trips and what they are for so you work out what percentage of your travel is for business use.  This percentage is then used to calculate the amount of expenses related to…  Read more

Xero now includes Payroll

Xero have released the long awaited Payroll functionality for the NZ version ready for use from 1 April 2015. Xero’s payroll functionality includes the standard features of payroll software in terms of calculating pays, managing leave etc but it also includes the ability for staff to login and view their leave balances, pay history and submit leave requests.  As you would expect from Xero the User Interface looks nice and…  Read more

Support for Families

Parental Tax Credit For babies born on or after 1 April 2015, the Government will increase the parental tax credit from $150 a week to $220 a week, and extend the payment period from eight weeks to ten weeks. How much you receive also depends on: your total family income before tax the number of dependent children in your care and how old they are the number of newborn children…  Read more

Tax Bites

IRD and ‘your cheque is in the mail’ From 1 October this year cheques must reach IRD by the due date for payment. Posting a cheque on the last day will be too late. IRD will accept post-dated cheques but won’t guarantee to not bank them early. If there are insufficient funds to pay the tax, that’s the taxpayer’s problem. IRD say they will endeavour to avoid banking early and…  Read more

Marks’ Musing – Winter 2014

Welcome to the winter addition of Marks’ Musing It is that time of year when a number of you have been contacting the office to find out when you should bring in your books and records for us to prepare your financial accounts and tax returns. On the 1st of April, you should have received an email from us, requesting that you download and print the questionnaires from our web…  Read more

IRD moving more towards electronic payments as preferred method

Manual payments discontinuing. Changes to the Inland Revenue payment service at Westpac From 1 October 2014 you will no longer be able to make cheque payments or drop off returns or forms at a Westpac branch. You will be able to continue making cash and eftpos payments at Westpac. Customers can post cheque payments, returns and forms directly to Inland Revenue. You can continue to make payments using online banking, credit…  Read more

Take care with bank discussions

Discussions with your bank getting it right to avoid any misunderstandings. Anything you say to a bank can be written down and used in evidence against you. Not by the bank so much as the Tax Department. It is not confidential from the IRD. Always imagine an officer of the department is listening to your every word. You have no control over the notes your bank manager makes of your…  Read more

Get business loan arrangements right

Make sure you buy a car in the right name to ensure you maximise your tax position. A client bought a new car for his business. The business paid for the car but the finance arrangement was in his own name. The interest is not tax deductible on the money borrowed. While we can remedy the situation, it adds to our work and your costs. Make sure if you are…  Read more

Make sure you get proper tax invoices

Not all retailers are issuing proper tax invoices. For purchases over $50 at a minimum a tax invoice must include the words “Tax Invoice” as well as the GST registration number. If you do not receive a tax invoice for goods purchased, you are not permitted to claim GST. Should you be given an invoice which does not qualify as a tax invoice, ask the assistant to record the missing…  Read more

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