A reminder that the government has increased the threshold for the 100% instant depreciation claim on assets to encourage businesses to continue investing. The asset cost threshold for this has increased from $500 to $5,000 for assets purchased from 17 March 2020 to 16 March 2021. Businesses can immediately deduct the entire cost as depreciation on eligible assets rather than spread the asset cost as over the life of the asset. However, for assets purchased from 17 March 2021 onwards, this immediate 100% depreciation claim only applies to assets with a cost of no more than $1000. Therefore if you are thinking of acquiring an asset (say an air conditioning unit for a rental property), then you should consider doing this before 17 March 2021, particularly where the asset’s cost will be between $1,000 and $5,000.
If you are an employer paying wage subsidies to your employees, these should be processed as part of the employee’s normal wages. They do not have to be accounted for separately when filing your Employment Information each pay day, but should be included within total wages paid for each employee. Make deductions such as PAYE, KiwiSaver and child support just as you would normally.
From 1st October 2020 if you pay your tax by cash or EFTPOS at any branch of Westpac bank you will need a barcode. Barcodes can be found on IRD returns, statements and letters as well as generated and printed off the IRD website at https://www.ird.govt.nz/barcode.