Payday filing is here for all employers
Time is running out to begin payday filing before 1 April 2019. Remember, the law has changed so you must change to payday filing by 1 April 2019. Some payroll software companies are not yet ready for payday filing, so we suggest you check before launching ahead.
Please be aware IRD are phoning all employers to check they are ready, we have had a couple of calls from clients to check in whether this is a scam – it isn’t.
IR-file will be discontinued
The existing ir-File service in
myIR will be discontinued on 11 March 2019
.
If you’re still filing monthly schedules you must use the ‘payroll returns’
account in myIR to file your EMS and employer deductions.
As above if your software
provider still isn’t ready, we suggest you ir-File your February EMS BEFORE
11 March
.
The payroll returns account will automatically show in your myIR account from
28 February 2019.
Changes to myIR in April - some services will be unavailable
A lot of IRD services will be down during April, to allow them to implement the changes – we understand this is from 17 to 26 April. This includes secure online services and their call centre. Note a lot of this time will be during the Easter/ANZAC break.
Home Used as Office Expenses
General Rule
- Where a self-employed taxpayer uses
his or her home partly to further the conduct of a business, he or she is
entitled to a partial deduction for the outgoings which relate to the use of
the home for the work related activities. These include:
- Heating
- Lighting
- Rates
- Insurance
- Mortgage interest/rent
- House and contents insurance
- Repairs and maintenance
- Telephone rental
The portion of outgoings deductible is based on the area used for the business, expressed as a percentage of the total area of the home:
It is not absolutely necessary to set aside a specific room for business purposes, nor is it necessary for your home to be physically changed to suit the business. In cases where a separate room is not set aside, it may be appropriate to apportion the outgoings based on criteria such as the amount of time spent on income-earning activities as home as well as the area used. Examples of areas likely to be used for business purposes include:
- An office or office area
- A storeroom or storage area
- A workshop
- A garage or part of a garage which is used to house
a business vehicle
Our Recommendation
Do the maths, and think laterally. Most people who are self-employed find it is impossible to completely separate business life from home life. Keep written workings of your calculations, and be sure to keep records of your outgoings in a safe place.
At Balanced Accountancy, we engage the specialist service of one of New Zealand’s most reputable accounting firms for taxation advice. Polson Higgs offer practical advice to maximise savings and minimise tax.
Polson Higgs has a long-standing relationship with our firm, providing specialist taxation advice when required. This enables us to assist those clients who require this service, without a large overhead being built into our fees. It is a user-pays service.
Julie previously worked for Polson Higgs (formerly Price Waterhouse) in Dunedin and has maintained connections with key members of the Polson Higgs team.
Find out more about Polson Higgs by visiting:
It was a difficult process to witness how much devastation that a snow dump could cause. The roof of the building had completely caved in, and in places, damaged thousands of dollars’ worth of stock.
When we think about it, we were lucky, firstly that no-one was hurt in the disaster. We were fortunate to be able to temporarily relocate to a smaller shop in Leven Street until our rebuild was complete.
We were also lucky too, that Julie from Balanced Accountancy was on board to assist. We all quickly became Insurance Loss Experts. We would get together and look at the figures from all angles. Initially we paid consultants who specialised in this type of work (at Julie’s recommendation) to advise us on the process and do some initial work for us. However, it became apparent to us that Julie was more than capable of taking this on.
Julie worked closely with our Insurance assessors. When a business literally crashes in, there is a lot of debate/arguments to be had in establishing the value of the loss, this can be quite a subjective process depending on what side of the insurance equation you are on. Julie was able to maximise our insurance claim and have several healthy debates with the assessors, backing her arguments with facts and figures. As we still joke with Julie, Julie speaks ‘accounting-ese’ – our insurance assessor spoke in this language also. Julie was able to deal with the assessors in their unique language and then relay the information to us in plain English. This helped us immensely.
Within 9 months we were back in our original space. The work did continue for Julie - as part of the claim also covered the time back in the new premises until we got completely back on our feet. We are grateful that Julie was able to dedicate a lot of time to preparing our loss claim. She slotted into the business and worked with us on all aspects of the accounts to get the best result for us.
Julie has been our accountant since the inception of the company. She has been with us when we moved from Spey Street, to our new building in Yarrow Street and has seen our business grow, and she continues to provide regular support to our business.
Quite simply, we don’t believe we would be here if it wasn’t for Julie.
DEAN & SHELLEY TODD, WRENS