NEW AML LEGISLATION NOW IN FORCE
From 1st of October 2018 new legislation called the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 will take effect for accountants.
The purpose of this new law is aimed to help combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and to help Police bring the criminals to justice keeping NZ at the top of the list of low risk countries with a reputation for low corruption and strong protocols to prevent money laundering activity.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
In order to comply with these requirements, we need to request more information from our prospective and existing clients:
Your full name, your date of birth; and your address.
Therefore, one of the following must be brought into our offices and sighted when required:
NZ Passport;
NZ Firearms Licence;
NZ Drivers Licence and either a bank statement, rates
demand or utility bill less than 3 months old.
If you are seeing us about company or trust business, we will also need information about the company or trust including the people associated with it (such as directors and shareholders, trustees and beneficiaries).
CHOOSE THE RIGHT GIFT
While a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates may have been the easy go to for client gifts in the past they are only 50% deductible.
An example: Real estate agent Bob delivers a bottle of champagne to the owner each time he arranges the sale of a house. He can only deduct 50% of the cost of the bottle of champagne as he is providing entertainment away from his business premises in the form of drink.
Bob also sends a gift basket containing a bottle of wine, some cheese and various household items such as tea towels and soaps to the purchaser. He can deduct the full cost of the tea towels and soap, because these items are not food and drink. But he can only deduct 50% of the cost of the wine and cheese. If the cost can’t be identified separately, then an appropriate amount should be apportioned.
CHECK YOU'RE NOT CLAIMING GST INCORRECTLY
If you use or subscribe to an overseas company for a use of their product or service you need to ensure you are not claiming GST if they are not registered in New Zealand.
Examples we have seen recently are: Google Adwords, Facebook, Spotify, Adobe, Shopify to name a few. Make sure you double check you’re not claiming when you shouldn’t. If in doubt give us a call on 07 578 5416.
PAYDAY FILING
From April 2019 all employers will need to file their employment information every payday. This means instead of filing an Employer monthly schedule (IR348) every month, you’ll file employment information every payday in line with your payroll cycle. Providing IRD with more timely information means employees will have more certainty about what they will receive, eg Working for Families Tax Credits, and/or have to pay. Now’s the time to get your business processes in order and plan for the shift to payday filing before April 2019.