The saying that “the only constant in life is change” is particularly due when it comes to tax. Tax legislation is constantly changing, and depending on your perspective, it could be either good or bad. But either way, it will impact on you as a business owner.

There’s been some changes to tax legislation and we have summarised the most important changes which could impact on you.

1. New top personal income tax rate of 39%
2. Increase disclosure requirements for trusts
3. Changes to the Small Business Cashflow Scheme

 The New Top Tax Rate

 A new top tax rate of 39% will apply on personal income in excess of $180,000 for the 2021-2022 and later tax years. For most taxpayers this begins on 1 April 2021. We will be contacting those clients affect by this change to discuss your options in the coming months.

It’s also worthwhile to consider topping up your provisional tax payments throughout 2021 to account for the larger year-end tax bill. Alternatively, we can assist you to purchase tax from Tax Management New Zealand if you happen to miss a payment.

There are corresponding changes to other tax types to align with the 39% rate. These can be found in the table below:

Increased Disclosure Requirements for Trusts 
In addition to the introduction of the new Trusts Act 2019, which will come into force on 30 January 2021, Inland Revenue will require trusts to provide more information on their annual returns for the 2021-2022 income year onwards, including:

• Distributions and settlements made in the income year; and
• Profit and loss statements and balance sheets.

This ensures Inland Revenue has a clear picture of how a trust is being used and whether the usage changes as a result of the personal income tax rate change to avoid paying tax, given that the trustee income tax rate remains at 33% (as opposed to the top marginal tax rate of 39%)

The Commissioner can also request the information from trusts for prior years back to the 2013-2014 tax year as appropriate. This allows for comparable information to be gathered.

The increased disclosure requirements do not apply to non-active trusts, charitable trusts and trusts eligible to be Māori authorities. What this essentially means is that Inland Revenue will pay closer attention to your family trusts to see if you’ve been paying the right amount of tax.

The Small Business Cashflow Scheme Changes

 
The loan will now be interest free for 2 years (up from 1 year), and restrictions on how the loan can be used have eased. As well as spending on core operating costs, businesses will be able to choose to use the loan to invest in their business, helping it to adapt to the impact of COVID-19.

There are also changes to the eligibility criteria in the following 4 areas:

1. When the business was established
2. The decline in revenue test
3. Employee number test
4. Re-borrowing

The changes will be in effect from 28 January 2021. Note that the change in the decline in revenue test will significantly change which businesses are eligible as the time period will no longer include the April 2020 lock down.

There are a few more details and if you want to see the full changes, please visit Inland Revenue’s website here. (ird.govt.nz/updates/news-folder/upcoming-changes-to-the-eligibility-criteria-for-the-small-business-cashflow-scheme)

Applications for the scheme will remain open until 31 December 2023.

Lastly, we are here to help. If you have any questions regarding the changes or need to have a chat about your tax affairs, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@jzr.co.nz, or call 09-9722236.

The year 2020 and the world’s current economic status has taken a battering with the outbreak of COVID-19. With governments racing to create relief and incentive schemes for local businesses, the purpose of this article is to simply outline all the key tax changes and support schemes that have been introduced by the government of New Zealand  to help local businesses mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Major Tax Changes

1.     Reintroducing Depreciation on Commercial & Industrial Buildings

All depreciation deductions will be reintroduced for new and existing industrial and commercial buildings, including hotels and motels. There is no application process as the increased deduction will be available as part of normal tax filing processes. For more information click here.

2.     Immediate Deductions on Low Value Assets

Businesses will be able to deduct the full cost of more low-value assets in the year they were purchased, rather than having to spread the cost over the life of the asset. Currently, taxpayers are able to claim immediate deductions on the purchase of assets valued at lesser than $500. The threshold for this will now be increased to include assets that cost up to $5000 (for the 2020/21 income year).

The temporary increase in the threshold, is designed to incentivise businesses to bring forward investments to encourage spending. The threshold is being permanently increased to $1,000 (from 2021/22). For more information click here.

3.     Change to Provisional Tax Threshold

The government has increased the threshold for having to pay provisional tax from $2,500 to $5,000 for the 2020/2021 financial year only. For more information click here.

4.     Writing Off Interest On Some Late Payment Tax

The IRD has been given the power to waive interest on late tax payments for businesses who’ve had their ability to pay their taxes on time significantly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. The relief will apply to interest on all tax payments (including PAYE & GST) due on or after the 14th of February, 2020. For more information click here.

5.     Change to Carrying Forward of Tax Losses

The government has introduced a ‘same or similar business’ test, which means a business could carry forward losses. To meet the test, the business must continue in the same or a similar way it did before ownership changed. This test is modelled on Australia’s rules.

Some companies will be looking to raise capital to keep afloat now and to recover in the future. Raising capital may result in a change to the existing shareholder structure. Relaxing the rules will ensure companies in this position could carry losses forward to offset income when they return to profit. A bill will be introduced in the second half of 2020 after consultation with tax advisors, and will apply for the 2020-21 and later income years. 

6.     The Temporary Loss Carry Back Scheme

Businesses that are expecting to make a loss in 2019/20 or the 2020/21 financial year will be able to estimate the loss and use it offset profits in the past year. The scheme introduces the concept of offset years, which are the pair of years affected by the carry-back. The first year is named as the taxable income year and the second as the net loss year. For more information click here.

Simply put, this means that they can carry their losses back a year. This will allow the IRD to refund some or all of the tax paid for the year in which the business was in profit. For more information click here.

 Business Support Schemes

1.     Wage Subsidy Resurgence

A new Resurgence Wage Subsidy Scheme payment has been announced by the government for employers and self-employed people who have been impacted by the recent resurgence of COVID-19.

All New Zealand employers who have had or expect to have a drop in their revenues of at least 40% due to the resurgence of COVID-19 may apply for the scheme. Businesses must show a drop of at least 40% in their revenues for a 14 day period between the 12th of August to the 10th  of September, compared to a similar period last year. Application dates for the scheme are open from 1pm on the 21st of August until the 3rd of September 2020. For more information on eligibility criteria and how you can apply, please click here.

2.     Small Business Cashflow Scheme 

The small-business cash-flow scheme (SBCS) will provide interest free loans for a year to small businesses which have been impacted by the COVID-19 to help support their cash-flow needs and fixed costs as well. The scheme will provide assistance of up to $100,000 to firms employing 50 or fewer full time employees.

The scheme will provide $10,000 to every firm, and an additional $1,800 per equivalent full-time employee. To further encourage businesses the loans will be interest free if they’re paid back within a year. If the loan amount cannot be repaid within a year, then a 3% interest fee will be charged for a maximum period of five years. Repayments are not required for the first two years.

3.     Business Finance Guarantee Loan Scheme

The scheme will include a limit of $500,000 per loan and will apply to firms with a turnover of between $250,000 and $80 million per annum. The loans will be for a maximum of three years and expected to be provided by the banks at competitive, transparent rates. The scheme is also only available to financially solvent firms (i.e. firms whose assets are greater than their liabilities).

As a New Zealand small business owner if you would like to apply for any of the schemes or would like us to help you with issues your business might be facing, please contact us on info@jzr.co.nz or call us on +64-9-972-2236