Inland Revenue has provided advice about tax relief for businesses affected by the severe weather events in the North Island.
They can offer additional support and have several ways to help people through this, including
Removing penalties and interest
People might be worried about the penalties and interest charged on late filing or late payment. If people let the IRD know as soon as they reasonably can that they’ve been significantly affected by this weather, they will remove any penalties once the tax is paid in a reasonable time. They will also remove interest charged up to 30 April 2023.
Send a message in myIR or contact the IRD through a tax agent.
Apply to have a penalty waived (ird.govt.nz)
Paying in instalments
Once someone has worked out what they can afford to pay, they can set up an arrangement to pay in instalments. This can be set up using myIR or over the phone. This will stop late payment penalties from applying.
Apply for an instalment arrangement (ird.govt.nz)
Financial hardship
The IRD have the discretion to write-off all or some tax owing, penalties and interest charged depending on someone’s situation.
Apply for financial relief – individuals in New Zealand (ird.govt.nz)
There is support available for businesses and self-employed people.
Provisional tax
If they think their annual income is going to drop because of an event, they can choose to estimate provisional tax for the year. This will reduce their provisional tax to pay. They may even get back some of the provisional tax already paid. If they get Working for Families or Child Support, the changes in income may affect entitlements or obligations.
Estimation option (ird.govt.nz)
Child support
If a family’s income or situation has changed this may affect entitlements or payments. Any concerns or questions, or trouble making payments by the due dates, please call the IRD on 0800 221 221.
Estimating your income for child support (ird.govt.nz)
Working for Families
As entitlement is based on the yearly family income, the entitlement may change if family income has been affected by the emergency event. People can update your estimated family income through myIR.
Update my family income for Working for Families (ird.govt.nz)
Working for Families Tax Credits can be claimed weekly, fortnightly or at the end of the year. It’s important if people have a tax agent to discuss options with them first.
Tailored tax codes
Salary and wage earners may be entitled to a special tax code if they have a loss to carry forward.
Which tailored tax option is right for me? (ird.govt.nz)
Contacting Inland Revenue
If someone needs to talk to the Inland Revenue, they can:
- Call on 0800 473 566
- Send a message in myIR with the keyword flood in the subject line
- Go to one of the front of house offices.
Our customer sites (ird.govt.nz)
They can also get in contact with a tax agent for professional advice.