Benjamin Franklin once said there are two certainties in life – death and taxes! What isn’t so certain is what type or how much those taxes will be. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) collects over 80% of the government revenue, with just under half of that coming from individual income taxes. The current income tax rate in New Zealand ranges from 10.5% for lower incomes to 33% for the higher incomes – but has it always been this way? The

Whether you are in paid employment, running a business or on a benefit, you will need to pay taxes and the more you know it, the better equipped you will be to get the best out of your tax return. First of all, it helps to know why we have to pay taxes. Every person who earns money in New Zealand pays tax to the government each year. The amount you pay depends on how much you earn – the

Once you know how much you will be getting back from your income tax refund, the biggest question becomes: what am I going to use it for? And it’s a fair enough question, because it isn’t every day that you get an unexpected lump sum of cash deposited directly into your bank account. So to help you decide, here is a short article on what people us their New Zealand tax refund for. Firstly, to set the scene, let’s take

Most people work for wages in New Zealand, and their income tax is paid directly by their employer to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme. In most cases, the correct amount of tax is paid and you will not need to do anything at the end of the tax year (31 March). However, you can end up paying too much tax if you aren’t careful. For example, many people are not aware that

The fact that New Zealander’s consistently overpay their income tax was a little known only half a decade ago. Until recently only a very small percentage of the population actually applied for their tax refunds because the process was difficult, lengthy and required a large amount of paperwork. Luckily these days, services like MyRefund.co.nz have made this process easier and opened the eyes of New Zealander’s to the benefit of applying for income tax refunds. Still though, a large amount

When your baby is born, he/she will bring you more love and devotion than you ever thought possible — but did you know that your little bundle of joy may also bring you a tax credit? Thanks to the Working for Families program, you can get a parental tax credit that covers the first eight weeks after your baby is born. It’s designed to help you out with some of the expenses associated with having a brand new baby. How