Property Accountants

Today, New Zealand’s coalition government with National, Act and NZ First was finally announced. Some important decisions around tax and property investment have already been confirmed. Note that at time of writing we are still waiting on the detail around much of this, and we will further provide updates as they are announced. Reversal of interest non-deduction rulesThe thing that we ... Continue reading 

With approximately 8000 relationships ending in NZ in 2017 (Statistics NZ), it is hardly surprising that the Family Court is bogged down, and it is taking far too long for people to access the courts in order to resolve relationship property disputes.  As it should be, the Family Court’s priority is the protection of children and related issues. Resolution ... Continue reading 

As many investors will already know, banks have been steadily tightening their lending criteria, making it more challenging to borrow. And soon, when the new capital requirement rules for banks come into effect next year, this is only going to get harder.  Capital requirements for the major banks will be increased from 10% to 18% over the next seven ... Continue reading 

Almost a year to the day since the Government announced rules to eliminate tax deductions on interest for property investors, the legislation has all but reached its final destination. In the last two weeks the Select Committee report on the first draft of the legislation has been released and amendments have been made to the first draft reflecting these ... Continue reading 

Ever have a property settlement about to go through and at the last minute your professional trustee has held up the game by asking pesky questions like “Why are you buying this?” or “Is this the right entity to be buying it in?”  What about those times when you’re arranging a simple re-finance and just when everything seems to ... Continue reading 

It is a requirement in New Zealand for parties to provide their IRD numbers when buying or selling real estate (whether as an individual or through another entity such as a company or trust). Normally this does not pose any sort of problem. However, there will be significant issues if you are selling a property that has been generating ... Continue reading 

Are you interested in investing in property but find yourself locked out due to the high buy-in costs or the recent debt-to-income (DTI) restrictions?  Joint ownership of property may be a path worth exploring to get in the game and ensure you don’t miss out on the next growth cycle. This approach can leverage the collective purchasing power of ... Continue reading 

New Zealand has become an attractive destination for foreign investment, particularly in real estate. However, when investing in property in New Zealand, foreign investors must understand the tax framework they are dealing with which, among other considerations, includes the thin capitalisation rules, commonly referred to as ‘thin cap’. These rules are crucial for anyone considering borrowing to finance their investments, ... Continue reading 

Recently I’ve seen several interesting client problems which would undoubtedly have resulted in lots of money being lost and lots of legal fees being incurred if these clients hadn’t had GRA’s Professional Trustee on board. Having now experienced three property cycles in my adult lifetime, I know these sorts of issues (and others) commonly arise when an economy and a ... Continue reading 

It’s been an interesting start to 2017 with a much tighter credit market than what we have seen for most of the last decade. While the majority of the media have been concentrating on the fact that the market seems to have slowed since the 40% deposit rule introduction, I put it more down to banks themselves pulling back ... Continue reading 

Choosing the right real estate agent can make a big difference to your selling experience, and to your bottom line. A knowledgeable real estate agent can make you a lot of money. On the other hand, if you don't have a good agent, you can unnecessarily lose a lot of money. I am frustrated to have heard stories about ... Continue reading