Topic: Business - Kiwitax - Small Business & Rental Property Accountants

New Kiwitax GST Spreadsheets - Free to Clients

If you use a spreadsheet (Excel etc) for keeping track of your transactions and for preparing GST returns we've some good news! We've been polishing up our spreadsheet skills and have created some very nice 2 and 6 monthly GST spreadsheets for clients to use. There's also a nice 2 monthly non-GST one too. What makes these new Kiwitax GST Spreadsheets very cool is they work out if GST is applica... More

Topics: GST Business Record Keeping Client Care Accounting Software Freebies

Posted 25/09/2012

End of Financial Year - A Quick To Do List

With the end of the financial year coming up (on 31 March) now's a good time to do a bit of preparation work towards having your annual financial reports and tax returns prepared. By doing these few things now it can save a lot of back tracking later. Over the next week or so please take action with... Debtors - make a list of everyone that owes you money at the 31st March 2011 - review this list... More

Topics: Accounting Business Record Keeping Guides

Posted 24/03/2011

First Year in Business Do I Pay Income Tax?

A common myth people often share is that "you don't have to pay income tax for the first year in business". The fact is any profit earned will require income tax to be paid to Inland Revenue, it's more a case of when you have to pay. In the first year of trading you don't make any income tax payments to IRD. After the first financial year's trading the business financial accounts are prepared whic... More

Topics: Income Tax Business Guides

Posted 11/03/2011

How Can I Pay Myself From My Business?

There are a couple of ways to pay owners of a business and to account for the income tax on these. The most common way is the owner taking drawings - drawings are withdrawals from the business for personal use. The alternative is wages - the owner will become an employee of the business and PAYE will be deducted each payday like any other employment arrangement. Please note this option isn't ava... More

Topics: Business PAYE Salary & Wages Drawings Guides

Posted 3/03/2011

Using Kiwitax for Tax Compliance and a Separate Advisor for Business Advice

Although we're always happy to share our knowledge and advice and be of general help and guidance, Kiwitax is primarily a tax compliance practice. It's our goal to make your tax compliance super easy and to offer this service at a fair and reasonable price. We work hard to consistently achieve this goal and our client testimonials and regular feedback confirm we are getting it right. For many bus... More

Topics: Tax Agents Business Tax Compliance Kiwitax News Client Care

Posted 13/05/2010

Paid Parental Leave Becoming Easier to Access for Self-Employed

Some good news for self-employed people wanting to access Paid Parental Leave. Although eligible since 2006 the self-employed have had to jump through some extra hoops to qualify. Previously a declaration confirming earnings and self-employed status had to be made via a chartered accountant, Justice of the Peace or other person entitled to witness a statutory declaration - often adding cost and c... More

Topics: Business Kiwitax News

Posted 30/04/2010

Vehicle Ownership Vs Leasing - A Brief Overview

The benefits of leasing a vehicle are: Get to claim the lease as a monthly expense. May have an upgrade option after a certain period with keeping the lease payments roughly the same. Still get to claim running costs – e.g petrol, repairs, registration etc. The disadvantages of leasing are: Paying monthly payments for a vehicle you usually won't own at the end of lease. No deprec... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Business FBT Vehicles Guides

Posted 16/01/2009

Just Started As A Contractor - How Much Should I Save For Tax?

Question: I have just started work and my employer has informed me I am responsible for paying my own tax. Does this require me to put away 20% of my wages? What are my tax responsibilities? Answer: In this case you're effectively a self employed contractor - not an employee, so this means you'll need to put aside some of your gross income to pay your tax later. It's a good idea to keep this some... More

Topics: Income Tax Business Contractors Guides Starting Business

Posted 18/12/2008 – Updated 23/09/2014

Can I Be An Employee Of My Own Company?

Yes your company can become an employer and employ you via the payroll. This means that each pay day PAYE is deducted from your wages and on the 20th of each month the PAYE get's paid to IRD. Your wages become a cost to your business. You need to keep a wage book/record of each person’s pay each week - software that does this very nicely is Ace Payroll and can be found at www.acepay.co.nz. W... More

Topics: Business Employing PAYE Guides Company

Posted 21/10/2008 – Updated 3/09/2014

Should You Register Your Business For GST?

If your expected annual turnover (sales) will be $60 000 or more you'll need to be GST registered. This basically means you'll need to charge your customers 15% more on your pricing for GST - then account for and pass this on to Inland Revenue with your GST return each 1,2 or 6 months. If your turnover is expected or is less than the registration threshold GST registration is voluntary. Usually i... More

Topics: GST Business Tax Compliance Tax Returns

Posted 17/10/2008

Business Trading Structures

Sole Trader A Sole Trader is basically when you go out and do something for money but are not actually employed as an employee by a business or person. You use your own IRD number for invoicing and all profits are declared in your personal tax return. Being a Sole Trader is a good choice in that it's easy and inexpensive to get started but if you're looking at making profit over $70 000 (from 1 ... More

Topics: Business Structures Terminology Guides

Posted 17/10/2008

How Often Do I Need To File A GST Return?

GST returns are prepared and submitted to Inland Revenue every 1, 2 or 6 months. This frequency is an option which you'll decide upon when you register for GST. More

Topics: GST Business Guides

Posted 16/10/2008

How Do I Record Or Keep Track Of My Financial Transactions?

There are several ways you can record and account for your business income and expenditure transactions on a regular basis. These include... Writing up a manual cashbook (or doing an spreadsheet) – this records all the expenditure in a column layout formula – you have headings across the top of the page that relate to your costs – like vehicle expenses, printing & statione... More

Topics: Rental Property Accounting Business Record Keeping Guides Accounting Software

Posted 14/10/2008

What Records Do I Need To Keep?

Inland Revenue require you to keep all documents relevant to running your business or rental property – it is wise to do this because if ever they choose to do an audit on your activities – the more documentation you have to substantiate income and expenses the less stressful this process will be. These include... Bank statements, cheque and deposit books Tax invoices & receipt... More

Topics: Accounting Business Record Keeping Tax Compliance Guides

Posted 14/10/2008

What Do I Pay Income Tax On When I'm In Business?

When you operate a business, each year you are required to prepare financial reports showing all of the business income and expenditure incurred which will result in an overall net profit or loss for the year. If your business makes a profit you will pay income tax on this profit in your income tax return – if you’ve got wages income as well the profit will be added to this and you wil... More

Topics: Income Tax Business Tax Compliance

Posted 8/10/2008