Effective tax arrangements for you
Our role is to help business owners find effective tax arrangements for their businesses. Our philosophy is to ensure taxpayers pay as little tax as legally possible while staying away from troublesome areas. If you're looking for help with problem areas, we're not the most aggressive Kiwi tax accountants to see (which means we hope never to see our name in legal cases) - but we'll have a good look at the situation to see if you really are on dangerous grounds. Sometimes advice from IRD doesn't reflect all the relevant facts - or interpretations of the law.
Compliance with the law
By and large, we help taxpayers understand and comply with the law. We'd rather help you make more money (and so pay more tax) than spend lots of effort finding ways around it which may be challenged by IRD. The cases where some of the banks' arrangements have come unstuck on a challenge by IRD show the danger of trying to be too smart. Naturally, you should take advantage of breaks the law does offer - but we recommend avoiding arrangements that could be seen as tax evasion.
Tax calculations and when to pay
There are two aspects to tax payments - how much and when. While we encourage people to be in charge of their own accounts, as good business practice suggests, when it comes to tax, we take a more active role. First, we calculate your tax position. This can be complicated in some cases - for example, student loan repayments and family support. But once this is done, we then tell you what is due when - along with reminders nearer the time. Of course, you should have your own MyIRD account so you can see what IRD thinks your position is. While that is generally a good idea, it can also mean IRD will try and contact you when they should be talking with us.
Payment arrangements when necessary
If you're not going to be able to make these payments on the due date, we suggest you talk to us before that date. We can usually negotiate a repayment schedule - and IRD usually remits penalties on these. But only if the arrangement is in place before the due date - and only if you stick to it. Alternatively, there are legal ways to transfer tax from over-payers via intermediaries, thus helping both parties and we can advise on that.
Other taxes
Accountants don't just deal with income tax. There's also PAYE, KiwiSaver, GST, FBT and withholding tax of various sorts. These are generally your responsibility, although if FBT relates solely to shareholder-employees, this is usually be done as part of processing your tax, and of course for GST returns we do via an electronic bank feed then we are responsible - but not for the payment. We don't deal with payroll on clients' behalf. However, if you are affected by these areas, we will help you find a solution that works for you and your employees. We will also help you with problems that can arise from time to time.
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