New tax payment rules expose taxpayers to late payment penalties

From the 1st of October 2014 the Westpac Bank no longer accept IRD Forms (GST Returns, Employer Monthly Summaries, Tax Payment Slips) or cheques for tax payments. This is part of a push by the Inland Revenue Department to increase the on-line payments of taxation from the current levels of 70%.

If you currently file paper copies of your GST Returns and Employer Monthly Summaries and send your payment by cheque with the relevant tax form to the Inland Revenue Department then be warned! If the Inland Revenue Department have not received your cheque by the due date for payment you will be charged late payment penalties. For some of us this will mean posting your cheque 5 days before the due date for payment to allow for the notoriously slow NZ land mail reducing the time during the month that you have to prepare the GST and Employer Monthly Summaries.

If the new tax payment rules are not acceptable you can pay your tax money via Internet Banking on the due date and post your IRD form – Inland Revenue have advised that IRD forms received a few days after the due date for filing will not be treated as being filed late. It is only the tax money being received late that they have an issue with. Not sure what has happened to the rule we used to apply that deemed the recipient to have received the payment on the day it was postal stamped!

Of course you can register your business under the myIR service on the Inland Revenue Department website, file your IRD forms on-line and pay your tax through Internet Banking. That will keep the IRD happy on both counts and possibly save you some grief too.