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Are you planning a Christmas event for your clients? Is gift-giving on your to-do list? Take a minute to refresh yourself on how much is deductible as a business-related expense. Presents Are you thinking of gifts for clients, business associates or team members? If gifts consist of food or drink, you can only claim 50% of the expense as a tax deduction. If gift baskets or hampers contain some food or drink and some other goodies, the food or drink items are 50% deductible, but other gift items are 100% deductible. Note that when you claim the tax deduction, you…

There can sometimes be a blurred line between the personal use of business laptops, mobile devices and vehicles in your everyday life. This can make it confusing to allocate how much GST you can claim based on how much the asset is used. In this situation, you will apportion the amount of GST you claim based on the percentage the good or service is used in your business. This can be measured in different ways for different assets and services. If you are using a home office in your house, you can claim for the home office by comparing the

Interested in hiring migrant workers? Applications are now open to become an ‘accredited employer’, which allows you to employ migrants using a new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). This can create a solution for your business If you are an employer and you cannot find suitable New Zealanders for a role. The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) replaces six other work visas and should help streamline the process of employing people from outside New Zealand. It can also help those employees get on track for New Zealand residence. Once you are accredited, if nobody suitable can be found in New…

New rules modernising GST invoicing and record-keeping requirements will apply from 1 April 2023. The key change is removing the requirement to issue and hold a “tax invoice” document (which meets certain prescribed requirements on details required), and instead having GST requirements met provided specific GST information is held through various business records, for example commercial invoices or agreements. Tax invoices will be replaced by taxable supply information (TSI). This is a set list of information that must be provided to any GST-registered customers within 28 days of the date of supply. Information over and above current tax invoice requirements

With damage from the adverse weather events in Nelson, Marlborough, Far North and the Tasman having devastating effects, Cabinet have declared ranges of support for affected businesses, individuals and families affected by the floods. Find out if you qualify for any of the support granted due to the recent weather events below. To assist affected farmers and growers, we are exercising discretion to allow late deposits for the 2022 year and early withdrawals from the income equalisation scheme. What’s an income equalisation scheme? The income equalisation and environmental restoration schemes are a way for certain types of businesses to even

When Audit activity is being conducted by government revenue agencies, it can be costly and time consuming. Audit Shield provides for the payment of our professional fees otherwise payable by you when incurred as a result of our accounting firm being required to respond to audit activity of your lodged returns instigated by Inland Revenue. Below are some frequently asked questions regarding opting into an audit shield master policy and what will be covered. What is included under the Audit Shield Master Policy Professional fees which are directly related to the work your accountants are required to undertake as result

A major tax difference between commercial and residential buildings is that you can claim depreciation on commercial buildings. Depreciation for buildings was removed across the board in 2010, then reinstated – but only for commercial buildings – as part of a 2020 emergency pandemic support package. Residential landlords cannot claim depreciation, but there are some grey areas where it’s not immediately obvious whether a building is residential or not. Inland Revenue has recently released a fact sheet to help you find the right depreciation rate for your building. Does your property qualify as non-residential? Here are the criteria according to…

Remembering the filing and payment deadlines for your business can be challenging. And forgetting about tax payments coming up can seriously disrupt your cash flow planning. We have summarised tax deadlines coming up in August for you to prevent you from missing any deadlines and facing a penalty. Tax Dates for August 2022 Note: the provisional tax due dates apply to those clients who have a March balance date. Different dates will apply for those clients who have different balance dates. Make sure to plan for your tax obligations in your monthly cash flow forecasting. Reach out to your Walker

If you have made overseas investments recently, have you given any thought to what this means when it comes to paying tax? In late June the IRD released its offshore tax transparency package to clarify the tax compliance for overseas investments. In short- New Zealand tax residents are required to pay taxes on their worldwide income, regardless of whether taxes are paid overseas and whether the income has been brought back to New Zealand. Inland Revenue spokesperson John Nash said “New Zealanders have become increasingly involved in overseas investment. They’re taxed on their worldwide income including things like rental income

Using public WiFi in cafes, hotels and coffee shops is something we all do. It’s convenient and gives you the benefits of working online wherever you happen to be. But are you aware of the data security issues of working from a public network? In an age where remote and hybrid working are now the norm for so many employees and self-employed people, it’s important to know the key ways to keep your data safe. Secure ways to work from a public network Remote working is a flexible approach to work that’s increased in popularity hugely over the past few

The borders opening up provides the opportunity to venture overseas for business and work-related conferences. However, it can be hard to keep track of what daily expenses you can claim when you're traveling for work or taking a holiday as part of the same trip. Below we have created a summary of what you can claim for the parts of an overseas trip that are work-related and guidelines for eligibility. Travel costs In general, when you are away from home on business related travel, you can claim for costs including:   flights taxis, or mileage if you use your own…

Do you treat your employees to benefits including; cars available for private and free use, subsidized or discounted goods or services? If these benefits are enjoyed as part of their employment, you, as an employer, are liable for Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT). Employers pay tax on benefits provided to employees or shareholder-employees, even if the benefits are provided through another person/entities. Employers also pay FBT if the benefits are provided to or enjoyed by associates of the employees or shareholder employees. Examples of Fringe Benefit Taxes work vehicles available for personal use subsidies on gym memberships or insurance discounted goods…

With the cost of living rising, we understand that it can sometimes be a stretch to provide for your family. Did you know that there are payments that may be available to you, to help with the costs of raising your kids and whānau. This includes support for newborns and caregivers of children who have come into your care. Below is an overview of the support that may be available for you and your whānau including; Working for Families Child support Working for families payment Working for Families Tax Credits are payments for families with dependent children aged 18 and under. You