Nine Consulting Limited

31/12/2021

Welcome 2022 and wish you all a very happy new year.

2021 has finally ended.The past year has been a great ride that was filled with surprises and shocks. All of us had our share of joy, sorrows, love and animosity. After a year of smiles, tears, laughter, health, sickness and most importantly, another year of the pandemic, we have finally entered 2022.

The New Year, although seemingly a harbinger of another wave of the pandemic, marks the start of another year which is a storehouse of new opportunities and new beginnings and can turn out be as good as you wish to make it.

Wishing you all our friends and clients a very happy and peaceful 2022.

From Team@ nineconsulting

14/12/2021

Wish you all a very happy and merry Christmas

24/11/2020

Merry Christmas.

30/03/2020

COVID 19 TAX RELIEF MEASURES MARCH 2020

Main relief measures

There are six main proposals related to tax.

Giving Inland Revenue the discretion to remit use-of-money interest (UOMI) for customers significantly adversely affected by COVID-19. The relief measures will apply to interest on all tax payments (including provisional, PAYE, and GST) accrued after 14 February 2020 and will apply for an initial two year period.
Increasing the provisional tax threshold from $2,500 to $5,000 from 2020/2021.
Increasing the small asset depreciation threshold from $500 to $1,000 – and to $5,000 for the 2020/21 tax year. This will be a temporary increase for assets acquired during the 12 month period from 17 March 2020. The threshold will be permanently increased from the $500 threshold to $1,000 for assets purchased from 17 March 2021
Allowing depreciation on commercial and industrial buildings from 2020/2021.
Removing the hours test from the In-Work Tax Credit (IWTC) from 1 July 2020. and extending Working for Families tax credit entitlement for emergency benefit recipients to people on a temporary visa.
Accelerating refundability of research and development tax credits: The new R&D tax credit rules had only limited refundability rules for the 2019-20 income year. The broader rules that were to have applied from the 2020-21 income year have been brought forward to apply from the 2019-20 income year to allow businesses to fully utilise R&D tax credits as soon as possible
Filing of 2019 income tax returns

If your or your client’s income tax for the income year ended 31 March 2019 is late, (due on 31 March 2020 for clients with a tax agent), any late filing penalties will be waived. However, note that late tax return filings will also have the effect of extending the time bar in section 108 of the Tax Administration Act 1994 to 31 March 2025 (instead of 31 March 2024).

Due to the impact of COVID-19 and related potential for filing delays, the Commissioner will close any review or other compliance activity for any 2018/2019 income tax return which is:

due on or before 31 March 2020 and is furnished after 31 March 2020 but before 31 May 2020
not subject to any existing exclusions from the standard 4 year time bar
not subject to a dispute:
commenced by NOPA issued before 1 January 2023, and
involving alleged tax avoidance, or
having tax in dispute of greater than $200 million.
The Commissioner may need to clarify the circumstances of any delay in filing. This is limited to the effects of the COVID-19 virus.

On 25 March, Inland Revenue released a further update on what it was doing which stated that;

If your business is unable to pay its taxes on time due to the impact of the COVID 19, we understand, you don’t need to contact us right now.

Get in touch with us when you can, and we’ll write off any (late payment) penalties and interest. It would help if you continue to file however, as the information is used to make correct payments to people, and to help the Government continue to respond to what is happening in the economy.

These measure apply to provisional tax, GST and PAYE. In relation to PAYE note that as these payments are held on trust (for employees) if Inland Revenue considers that you have intentionally withheld PAYE payments, prosecution could follow.

For taxpayers with a 31 March balance date, and who have a tax agent their terminal tax for the year ended 31 March 2019 will have to be paid on 7 April 2020. The relief measure will cover any genuine late payments of terminal tax

Following this, the P 3 provisional tax payment, which is the final provisional tax payment for the March 2020 balance date is due on 7 May 2020. These payments will also be covered by the relief measures.

Other issues

As to any tax elections that may be due on 31 March 2020, (e.g. LTC elections), it appears that these will still need to be made on time, and they do not seem to have been covered by the relief measures.

Note that Inland Revenue will be allowed to share information about a person or entity with other government departments and public authorities for the purpose of enabling the agency to provide or fulfil any duty or obligation in relation to the person or entity in connection with COVID-19-related assistance. This will likely apply to wage and leave subsidies etc.

We provide a range of Chartered Accounting and Business Advisory services to a broad range of clients both local and international.

24/12/2019

May your Christmas sparkle with moments of love, laughter and goodwill. And may the year ahead be full of contentment and joy. Have a Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in 2020.

01/08/2019

Nine Consulting Limited – Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors
We are accountants with business experience and always look beyond the numbers to add value to your enterprise.
Please call on us if you are looking for a specialist accounting firm providing the following services
• IRD Audits and Reviews
• Taxation Disputes and IRD settlement negotiations
• Tax Opinions
• IRD tax debts, Penalties and Prosecutions
• Voluntary Disclosures
• Accounting and Tax Compliance
Tax issues are not for the faint-hearted, and the IRD will possibly take advantage of you if you are alone and not represented by a seasoned tax practitioner. The tax disputes system is complicated, with strict deadlines for the filing of dispute documents and, and a 'sudden death' result if any deadline is missed. You therefore need a practitioner who is familiar with the intricacies of the IRD disputes system. We can work with you and with your accountant and lawyer to ensure the best outcomes for you or your company or trust.
In relation to IRD debt, this can double every three years if left unattended, (the IRD interest rate on tax debt has just risen to 8.22%). We can negotiate with the IRD and ensure that you get the best possible results and thereby minimise IRD interest and penalties.

07/10/2018

IRD tax audits and disputes
New Zealand has a ‘self- assessment’ tax filing system. This means that if you are self-employed or have income from which withholding tax is not deducted or you own a company, you need to self-assess your or your company’s tax position and file an annual income tax return that correctly reflects this assessment. This is your sole responsibility, and the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department (the IRD) will not assist you to file the correct tax return.
If you only have income from which withholding tax is correctly deducted e.g. PAYE from wages, there is no need to file an annual income tax return.
Because we have such a self-assessment filing system, not surprisingly, the IRD selects taxpayers at random and reviews and audits their annual income tax returns to see if they accurately reflect the person’s correct tax position.
The first indication you will have that your tax affairs are subject to an IRD audit will be a letter sent to you or your accountant by the IRD advising you of this fact, and seeking extensive financial information including you or your company’s bank statements, financial accounts, tax returns and supporting documents and details of your assets and liabilities etc. You will also be requested to attend an IRD interview once the above information is supplied.
The IRD have extensive powers of investigation, and can legally request such information from you, your accountant or your bankers, (or in fact any third party), and can enforce non-compliance with such requests with court orders and/or criminal prosecution action.
The IRD will review all the above information and come to a decision. If they disagree with your self-assessment they will seek to assess you for any such tax shortfall they may calculate, and then impose use of money interest on any such shortfalls. Examples of such tax shortfalls could include instances where cash takings or overseas income has not been declared, or gains on property sales have not been fully disclosed.
The IRD may also charge you criminally where they consider that you have deliberately evaded tax or instead, impose shortfall penalties of up to 150% of your tax shortfall. If you are unable to pay any such tax plus interest and shortfall penalties, the IRD can seek a court order to coerce payment and enforce such court order by having the court bailiff seize your assets or bankrupt you or liquidate your company.
If you disagree with the IRD, you have the opportunity to enter into a dispute with the IRD, and if not happy with their decision, take the matter to the Tax Court or the New Zealand High Court.
The rules around tax audits and disputes are a minefield, and best left to experienced tax practitioners such as tax accountants or tax solicitors. They are definitely not for the DIY enthusiast.
A good practitioner can guide you through this stressful process and ensure that you survive an audit with the best possible outcome secured. They can argue points of tax law or interpretation, negotiate the imposition of penalties with the IRD or arrange a workable instalment arrangement where you have tax debt to pay, thus saving you or your business from either prosecution or bankruptcy/liquidation.

Nine Consulting provides assistance and representation to deal with IRD audits, tax disputes and IRD debt arrangement. Please contact us if you need assistance.

11/10/2017

New FBT Rules:
The proposed amendment allows close company taxpayers to use a simplified method for the calculation of deductions for vehicles (and premises) that are used for both business and personal purposes by shareholder employees. The proposal will allow close companies the option of apportioning business and private use of motor vehicles instead of having to pay FBT on private use. The proposed amendment will apply for the 2017–18 and later income years. (Note that a close company is a company which has 5 or fewer natural persons the total of whose voting interests in the company is more than 50% (treating all natural persons associated at the time as 1 natural person)).
Such taxpayers will deduct a fixed amount per kilometre travelled for business purposes based on rates published by Inland Revenue, or they can instead deduct the actual costs. Note that under the existing legislation, taxpayers may keep a logbook for a three-month representative test period to determine a vehicle’s proportion of business use for the next three years
The new method is optional, and taxpayers may elect to use it on a per-vehicle basis. However any election must be made when the tax return is filed for the year in which the vehicle is acquired. The election is non-revocable, so taxpayers cannot switch between methods for the same vehicle (although they may apply different methods to different vehicles). Taxpayers who own a vehicle which they use partly for business purposes may switch to the new method for the 2017–18 income year, when the new method is introduced. This is provided they do not dispose of the vehicle in that income year.
The election must be made on or before the date by which the company must file its tax return.

23/06/2017

Re settlement of Trust- application of bright-line test- A common mistake taxpayers do- Answer to a question.

The trustees of Trust A are to resettle the property of Trust A on a new trust, Trust B. The property of Trust A includes a residential rental property acquired in June 2016.

The beneficiaries of Trust A and Trust B are identical. However, the trustees of the two trusts will differ.

As Trust A leases the rental property to a non-beneficiary, the residential exclusion from the bright-line test will not apply.

As the beneficiaries of the two trusts are identical, will the transfer of the rental property trigger a disposal within two years of acquisition under the bright-line test?

ANSWER:

As Trust A acquired the land after 1 October 2015, a disposal of the land within the bright-line period will be subject to the bright-line test. Assuming the title to the land was registered in the name of the trustees of Trust A in June 2016, the bright-line test will apply if the trustees dispose of the property before June 2018.

While Trust A and Trust B have identical beneficiaries, the two trusts are different "persons" for income tax. The trustees of a trust acting in that capacity are treated as if they were a notional single person. Therefore, the trustees of Trust A and the trustees of Trust B are two different notional single persons.

A resettlement of a trust is treated as a disposal of the trust property by the trustees of the resettled trust at market value and an acquisition of the resettled property by the trustees of the second trust for that same market value. Accordingly, the bright-line test will be triggered if Trust A is resettled on Trust B within the bright-line period for the residential property.

REFERENCE:

Income Tax Act 2007, ss CB 6A, FC 1, FC 2, HC 2(2).

20/10/2015

18/10/2015

Office pictures

18/10/2015