Update from Inland Revenue 20 Feb 2023, Recent weather events – Cyclone Gabrielle update

February 21, 2023

Kia ora,

If you have been affected by the recent cyclones and adverse weather you might be worried about not being able to file or pay your taxes on time. You do not need to call us right now. Focus on the clean-up. When you are able to please contact us via myIR including the word ‘cyclone’ or call us on our disaster line 0800 473 566.

If you are impacted by these weather events, see what support is available for you: https://www.ird.govt.nz/topics/tax-relief-for-emergency-events.

Penalties and interest 

If you let us know as soon as you reasonably can that you’ve been affected by either cyclone or the January 2023 floods, we can then later remove any late filing and payment penalties, and some interest. You’ll need to ask us to do this after you’ve paid the core tax in a reasonable time.

· For Cyclone Hale we can remove interest charged up to 31 March 2023 if you’re in the Northland, Coromandel, Gisborne, Wairoa or Wairarapa districts.

· For the January 2023 floods we can remove interest charged up to 30 April 2023 if you’re in the Northland, Auckland, Waikato or Bay of Plenty regions.

· For Cyclone Gabrielle we can remove interest charged up to 30 June 2023 if you’re in the Northland, Auckland Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne or Hawke’s Bay region, or the Tararua district.

We also know that there has been localised flooding and damage across other regions and districts. If that’s you, get in touch and we can see how we can help.

At any time you can set up an instalment arrangement in myIR to pay us over time. This means you won’t get any additional penalties in the first place.

Donations & Donee organisations

If you make a monetary donation to an approved charity you may be entitled to a tax credit – refer to https://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax/income-tax-for-individuals/individual-tax-credits/tax-credits-for-donations, which also includes a link to check whether the organisation you’re giving to is an approved donee organisation.

Income Equalisation Scheme

To help affected farmers and growers we are allowing late deposits for the 2022 year and early withdrawals from the income equalisation scheme – to find out more go to:

https://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax/income-tax-for-businesses-and-organisations/income-equalisation-scheme

Donated trading stock

Normally if you give goods away you still have to pay tax as if you’d sold them, but until 31 March 2024 you might be entitled to some tax relief. This area is quite complex and you should speak with your accountant or tax agent.