Super important, up to date records are needed to easily determine your tax position. Good record keeping makes your business life less stressful and more efficient by saving you time and money.
What's best for your business? Within the Covid levels there are a range of financial support options to get you through. Resurgence Support Payment (RSP)Available during Levels: 2, 3, 4 Does your revenue drop every time there’s a change in COVID-19 levels? RSP is a payment available to support business or organisations that are facing a reduction in revenue created by COVID-19 alert level increases. Are you eligible? If you have been in business for at least 6 months and have experienced a drop of 30% in revenue over a 7-day period after an alert level increase, not just covid in general, you may be eligible for this support payment. What do you need to know? RSP is not an automatic payment support, the government will decide whether to activate if the alert level increases from level 1 for at least a week. This payment is not a loan, so does not need to be repaid. The payment must be used to help cover business expenses such as wages and fixed costs. Applications will remain open for 1 month after the return to Alert Level. Wage Subsidy SchemeAvailable during Levels: 3, 4 Worried about how you are going to pay your staff when in lockdown? Wage Subsidy March 2021 was made available to help employers pay staff and continue employment which would otherwise be impacted by February 2021 alert level changes. Are you eligible? If you are a business or self-employed and have experienced a 40% drop in revenue over a 14-day period between 28 February 2021 and 21 March 2021 due to the alert level increase you may be eligible. What do you need to know? The Wage Subsidy was made available between 4 March 2021 to 21 March 2021. You needed to be able to show that the revenue drop was due to the change in alert level, not just COVID-19 in general. Short-Term Absence PaymentAvailable during Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4 Uh, Oh, COVID-19 test downtime? If you or your employees require a COVID-19 test and miss work or are unable to work from home while waiting for the results the Short-Term Absence Payment may be what you need. Are you eligible? To be eligible, workers need to be unable to work from home and need to miss work while waiting for the test results. What do you need to know? Available to employers and self-employed workers, at all alert levels. Must be used to pay employees following the public health guidance for awaiting COVID-19 test result. Small business cash flow loan scheme (SBCS)Available during Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4 Worried about your cashflow? SBCS is a Loan provided by the government to provide cashflow support to those that have been impacted by COVID-19. Providing assistance of up to $100,000 to small businesses, sole traders and self-employed, who employ 50 or fewer full-time employees. Are you eligible? You must show at least a 30% drop in revenue due to Covid-19, measured over a 14-day period in the past 6 months What do you need to know? Applications have been extended and open until 31 December 2023. Loan is to be paid back, interest free, within two years, after this period an interest rate of 3% for a maximum term of five years. Tax and ACC supportAvailable during Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4 Struggling with your tax obligations? If due to COVID-19 you are finding it a struggle to pay your tax obligations, Inland Revenue has support schemes and options in place to help, click the link below. Worried about ACC payments? ACC levy invoices for 20/21 financial year, usually sent out in July, will now be sent out in October. More information about delayed invoices and guidance to help is available below. Business debt hibernationAvailable during Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4 Need help managing business debt? Business debt hibernation helps business and trusts affected by COVID-19 manage their debts. This government initiative helps you set up an arrangement to pay your creditors. While this arrangement is being set your creditors can’t enforce their debts. Effectively providing up to a month of protection. What do you need to know? Unfortunately, this is unavailable for Sole traders. Applications remain open until 31 October 2021. This business debt hibernation decision tool may help you decide if it’s a good option for your business: Business finance guarantee scheme (BFG)Available during Levels: 1, 2, 3, 4 Are you after a loan? Business Finance Guarantee loans that can help businesses access credit for cashflow, capital assets, and projects related from impacts caused by COVID-19. What do you need to know? Due to a change in the scheme, businesses can now use the loan to modify their premises to accommodate different alert levels or meet changing demands. As per usual loan conditions, borrows are still liable, and debt must be paid back with interest. Find Out MoreAs always there are eligibility requirements that must be meet for you to receive financial support. I’m here to help, contact me if you have any questions or want to explore your options.
For a general guide on each of the above head over to the Business Govt. NZ website. Ring-Fencing of Rental Losses
The proposed loss ring- fencing rules will mean that speculators and investors with residential properties will no longer be able to offset tax losses from those properties against other income for example, salary, wages or business income to reduce their tax liability. The losses can be used in future years when the properties are making profits or if the person is taxed on the sale of land. Under the current New Zealand tax setting, tax is applied on a person’s net income. We do not ring- fence income and losses from particular activities or investments. This means that there is generally no restriction on losses from one source reducing income from another source. Investment housing is currently taxed under the same rules that apply to investments. This means that rents are income and interest and other expenses are deductible. Capital gains on sale of the property are not taxed unless the property is on revenue account ( for example, land dealer or developer) Aim of the proposed changes The introduction of loss ring –fencing rules is aimed at levelling the playing field between property speculators/investors and home buyers. Currently, investor’s particularly high geared investors have part of the costs of servicing mortgages subsidised by the reduced tax on their other income sources helping them to outbid owner occupiers for properties. Rules that ring fence residential property losses so they cannot reduce tax on other income , and is intended to help reduce this advantage and unfairness. Types of properties subject to the rules It is proposed that the loss- ring fencing will apply to residential land. The rules will not apply on a person’s main home, a property that is subject to mixed assets rule for example a bach that is sometimes used privately and sometimes rented out and land that is on revenue account because it is held in a land related business. Portfolio basis It is suggested that the loss ring fencing rules should apply on a portfolio basis. That would mean that investors would be able to offset losses from one rental against rental income from other properties calculating their overall profit or loss across their potfolio. Using ring fenced losses Under the suggested changes, a person’s ring fenced residential rental or other losses from one year could be offset against their:
It is proposed that the loss ring fencing rules will apply from April 1, 2019 next year. New Square Rate Option for Claiming Use of Home Claim Expense for 2018
A new method will be available for the 2017-18 and later income years to calculate the expenses you can claim for using your home as an office. This method will use rates that Inland Revenue will determine based on the average cost of utilities per square metre of housing, but excluding mortgage interest, rates and rent. You will be able to claim a portion of the mortgage interest, rates and rental costs that you paid during the year based on the percentage of floor area being used for business purposes. The square metre rate for the 2017 - 2018 income year is $41.10 per square metre. You still need to give me your annual mortgage interest /rent but you don’t need to give me information on your utilities. The Government has launched proposals for offshore suppliers of low-value goods to New Zealand consumers to collect and return GST on those goods. The Government is to close a loophole that gives offshore companies an advantage by not requiring them to collect GST on all goods sold to local consumers. From 1 October 2019: Offshore suppliers would be required to register, collect, and return New Zealand GST on goods valued at or below $400 supplied to New Zealand consumers. The rules would apply when the good is outside New Zealand at the time of supply and is delivered to a New Zealand address. Offshore suppliers would be required to register when their total supplies of goods and services to New Zealand exceed $60,000 in a 12-month period. In certain circumstances, marketplaces and re-deliverers may also be required to register. Tariffs and border cost recovery charges would be removed from goods valued at or below $400. The current processes for collecting GST and other duty at the border by Customs will continue to apply for goods valued over $400. The current border processes for managing risks in relation to imported goods, including biosecurity assessment, will remain in place. How will the proposed changes affect consumers?GST will be charged at the point of sale when the value of the goods is $400 or less. In some cases consumers will pay more for their goods but in some cases goods will be cheaper because of the removal of Customs tariffs, border security fees and biosecurity cost recovery charges. There is no change to the tax treatment of goods valued above $400, where the current process for collecting GST and tariff duty at the border will continue.
The legislation introduced last year was designed to simplify and integrate tax processes with day-to-day business. The result is a new option for managing provisional tax through accounting software, the ‘Accounting Income Method’ (AIM), which will be available to start on April 17, 2018.
What is AIM ( Accounting Income Method)? Accounting Income Method is a new provisional tax option for small businesses with annual turnover under $5 million. How does it work? MYOB, Reckon or Xero calculates the payment by using the information in your accounting software. The system will calculate provisional tax if your business is making profit. The calculation will include basic tax adjustments for depreciation, Shareholder Salary, Private Use expenditure, Debtors and Creditors, Provisions, Trading Stock and Prior Year Losses. Two key benefits of Accounting Income Method
What are the other benefits of Accounting Income Method?
Use AIM if your business turnover is 5 million, growing and the sales are unpredictable or fluctuating. Partnerships, Maori Authorities, Superannuation funds, Trusts and Portfolio Investment entities. Keep up to date with tax changes. Follow us on Facebook to learn more. |
AuthorCristina Canard is the principal accountant at Apex Accountancy Ltd. Cristina keeps up to date with all the relevant tax changes in New Zealand. Archives
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