Hopefully the “post-Covid” reference in the title is not tempting fate, but at the time of writing New Zealand appears to be in an enviable position in terms of control of the public health side of the Covid pandemic. However, battling through the economic fallout is going to be just as challenging.
All readers will be aware of the government taking multiple actions across multiple different platforms to assist the public and employers as they work through the financial fallout. So I thought it would be useful to summarise some of the key tax measures that have been instituted in the past three months.
While the above concessions are all welcomed, in our view the IRD could have gone further. We would like to have seen them defer the implementation of the ring-fencing rules until the current income year has finished. Consideration should also have been given to an exemption from the application of the bright-line rule where one is forced to sell a property due to financial difficulties caused by Covid. That said, given the government’s antipathy to property investors we can’t say we are surprised that such measures were not taken. An additional measure that would be welcomed by tourism affected people, would be tax concessions to spread redundancy payments across multi-tax years. There have been murmurings of this in the wind, but nothing yet.
If you need help with anything mentioned in this article, please contact GRA on +64 9 522 7955, [email protected] or by filling out our online form.
This letter is to express my appreciation for the assistance and encouragement of both Anthony Lipscombe and particularly John Heaslip over the last financial year. The period since activating my trading trust has been one of considerable stress, as well as personal development, as I embarked on this as a relative business neophyte with virtually no awareness of the contemporary requirements of running a business, particularly the financial records aspect. During much of this period I have therefore felt considerable out of my depth. However I have been lucky enough to have had the benefit of the advice and support of John Heaslip in rationalizing what was a fairly chaotic set of records of the first year property trading. I am able to say that John in particular, has been unstinting in his attention to my needs and has done so in a manner which has never alluded to my extremely rudimentary grasp of managing a business, or even of being unable to set out a spread sheet properly. The result of the above guidance is that now, although my trading trust would still not be able to operate without the advice of GRA, I do least feel a sense of satisfaction that I have got to my present point without major disaster and that my property trust does now have some kind of firmer basis for any future activities - Name withheld by request
Investing in residential property?
If you're investing in residential property, seeking to maximise your ability to succeed and minimise risk, then this is a 'must read'.
Matthew Gilligan provides a fresh look at residential property investment from an experienced investor’s viewpoint. Written in easy to understand language and including many case studies, Matthew explains the ins and outs of successful property investment.