The much talked about new Association Rules are back before Parliament and unfortunately for those in the business of dealing in or developing property or erecting buildings, the Bill has not been substantially changed.
The new expanded definition of association has largely survived the Select Committee process and the new rules are likely to come into force in August, potentially from early August.
We are currently working through the rules so if you are looking to buy a rental property in August please contact us for advice if you are concerned about potential tainting.
Important Note for Builders
If you are in the business of erecting buildings this is the one activity that could lead to tainting of existing properties. To explain, if you are a dealer or developer only (ie. not involved in the business of erecting buildings) any rental property that you own now and that was not tainted under the existing rules will not be affected by the new rules. Further purchases could be, but your existing rentals will not be.
On the other hand, if you are in the business of erecting buildings, existing rental properties that you have could be tainted if you carry out improvements on those properties. If you are in the business of erecting buildings and are looking at making improvements to a rental property then contact us immediately as you need to know the implications of this.
Changing Use on Existing Stock
The other major impact that the change in Association Rules has is for those of you who have property bought for dealing and development purposes where you are considering a change of use. If you have a property bought for dealing and development purposes and you are considering holding it (ie. making a complete change of use in respect of that property) you need to contact us urgently. You should consider restructuring the ownership of that property in the next two weeks before the new rules come into play.
Summary
In summary, the new Association Rules are coming in and as feared they are wide reaching and going to make it very difficult for those engaged in a business of dealing in or developing property or erecting buildings to prevent future rentals from being tainted.
More immediately than that though, if you have property owned by your dealing and development entity that you now wish to hold long term you may need to take action within the next two weeks to restructure the ownership of that property before the rules change. If you are in the business of erecting buildings you also have to be extra careful if making improvements to existing rental properties.
If you want tax advice in relation to these issues please contact Anthony at GRA on 09 522 7955 or at anthonyl@gra.co.nz.
Thank you.
Matthew Gilligan
DirectorLearn More about Matthew
Contact Matthew at mg@gra.co.nz or call +64 9 522 7955
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