Risk and Reward Mixed Use Assets – taking note If you own a holiday home and rent this out commercially, there are new rules around how tax deductions are calculated. In order to accurately work out what these will be, there are some crucial points that we will require from you. You will still need to keep your normal records for income and expenses, but as well as that you… Read more
Scheme swapping across the ditch The Australian government recently announced that they have made changes to legislation that will allow New Zealanders to transfer their retirement savings from KiwiSaver into a compatible Australian scheme and vice versa. This legislation is the result of an arrangement between the New Zealand and Australian governments and removes an obstacle between the two countries, providing the ability for people to take advantage of employment… Read more
‘Mondayisation’ ahead Previously, when New Zealand celebrated Waitangi Day or ANZAC Day, and it fell on a Saturday or Sunday, it wasn’t recognised with a day of paid leave unless the employee normally worked on that day. For some New Zealanders, this projected the idea that these dates, marking significant moments in our history, weren’t important enough. Many also wanted to see employees enjoying their full entitlement of 11 public… Read more
There have been some articles in the news media recently dedicated to the rise of “teleworking”. To me the term already seems out of date as it seems to refer to the use of a telephone (invented around 1876) when today it is much more likely that internet technology will be used. According to Wikipedia, the term telework was coined in 1973, which will explain its old fashioned sound. However… Read more
Believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner already, which will leave many of you thinking about how best to reward staff. It may also have crossed your mind to consider how much of the expenditure that you will make will be tax deductible. Generally, if you provide entertainment for your team, clients or any other business contact, some of your business entertainment expenses are tax deductible. Below… Read more
A common question that we get asked, is “what portion of my home expenses am I able to claim for tax purposes?” Where a self-employed taxpayer uses his or her home partly in furtherance of the conduct of a business, he or she is entitled to a partial deduction for the outgoings which relate to the use of the home for the work related activities. These include: – Heating –… Read more
The IRD standard mileage rate for motor vehicles is now 77 cents per km. This rate applies to the 2012 income year. The standard mileage rate may not be acceptable where an employee’s business travel exceeds 5,000km. The reimbursement should be based on actual expenditure or a reasonable estimate of the expenditure likely to be incurred by the employee. One way to claim in Xero is to enter the mileage… Read more
Owning a rental property has become topical again with the recent positive movement in the Auckland residential property market. Besides the question of which property to buy and where (and ignoring the difficulties of increasingly crowded auction rooms), many property investors will be wondering which legal structure to use for their investment. Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies (LAQCs) were popular in the past. That popularity contributed towards some negative media coverage… Read more
Recent advances in small business accounting software are changing the way that accountants are able to interact with their clients. Using online or “cloud” based accounting software such as Xero gives accountants the opportunity to work with their clients on a regular basis, rather than just collecting records from businesses and preparing annual accounts after year end (as an aside, Xero is fast becoming a New Zealand success story which… Read more