30 Aug September Newsletter
PAYDAY FILING I MINIMIZING YOUR TAX BILL I ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LEGISLATION I MORE ON EMPLOYMENT
Got staff or contractors? Payday filing is on its way!
In April of next year, there will be a new requirement from IRD to file your employment information every payday rather than once a month. I know what you’re thinking – more paperwork! And you’d be right. The official line is that this will provide more certainty for employees, but I’m yet to come across an employee yet who has said “gee, shucks, I wish my employer would file my PAYE more often”. But alas, it is coming none the less.
If you run payroll on a regular day, this will hopefully only add one step to the process, so as much as it will be inconvenient, it won’t be the end of the world. However, if you run paydays on multiple days of the week or irregularly, this might become more of an issue. Our suggestion: wherever possible, only pay staff on one day per week and if you’re not doing so already, use payroll software.
If you have contractors that you pay via payroll, it looks like this will still affect you.
Think your tax bill is bad?
The downside of trying to ‘minimise’ your tax bill by dubious means is that you just might get caught. And when you do it on a big scale, getting caught can really hurt. Take a look at this potential $112 million bill, you won’t feel as bad about your tax bill afterward!
Anti Money Laundering legislation
As of the 1st of October, we are required to comply with the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Act for our tax clients. In practical terms, this means that we need to look closer at certain transactions you might make, so for anything large or out of the ordinary, please make sure you upload invoices/paperwork to Xero. This is a quick video of how to do that with your phone.
The other way that this might affect you is that we will need to hold up to date identification documents on file. As we get around and catch up with you, we will look to update what we hold. To see what we need, click here.
A little more on employment
Burger King and parent company Antares Restaurant have copped a bit of bad press as they paid an employee under the minimum wage. You can read about it here. While this is inexcusable, it is possible to see how a staff member who is paid near the minimum wage could end up getting less than the minimum wage if they work extra hours unpaid.
Businesses are required to keep records of how much time an employee works even if that employee is salaried. If you’re not sure about what records you need to keep for staff, check out what MBIE say.
Have a great September!
