The utilisation of trusts for asset protection, estate planning and tax planning purposes has exploded over the last 20 years. I suspect many readers are currently trustees of trusts. I equally suspect that very few readers have read the Trustee Act 1956, which was essentially the legislative rule book for trustee obligations.  If you have had the misfortune to ... More 

I have written several blogs warning taxpayers about the aggressive tactics the IRD have sometimes been employing. This is a trend that unfortunately shows no signs of abating. In fact, it appears to be getting worse.  Recently we’ve noticed some IRD auditors jumping from an initial (you’re being audited) letter, straight to statutory demands for information within unrealistic timeframes.  ... More 

2008 was a year all of us would like to forget.  It was the year when the global economic crisis hit and many individuals, businesses and countries went bankrupt, redundancies happened in their droves, unemployment went up and government cutbacks were the norm.   Those of you who have been through other recessions will attest that this was definitely ... More 

In April 2016 the Government announced a new SME-friendly tax package, which will make paying tax easier and more certain, reduce the burden of interest and penalties, and help smaller businesses tailor payments to their own circumstances. PROVISIONAL TAX To give you some background, provisional tax is a tax that businesses and the self-employed must pay in instalments on ... More 

As you may be aware, there is a new law that requires all tenanted homes to be insulated by 1 July 2019. Anyone who owns rental property must ensure their properties are insulated to the required standard by this date. At GRA we’ve been getting a lot of questions about whether the cost of insulating a rental property is ... More 

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 ... More 

Lately I've been spending lots of time writing my new book. One of the chapters concentrates on how to build wealth. Do you put your hard-earned coins into property, shares, bonds or something else that is going to grow your wealth?  The decision we make, whilst ultimately a personal one, is influenced greatly by historic events that have affected ... More 

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 more down to banks themselves pulling back in ... More 

At Property Ventures we are increasing our focus on new builds as investments because we see tremendous advantages from a financing perspective. Not only do investors get pristine new and low maintenance properties in better areas, they get the benefit of 80% LVRs and tax advantages from higher chattel depreciation.   These smart tax and finance benefits make investing ... More