At the moment I am sure many of our readers will be finalising those "end of year" tax returns, but with that almost over, this is just a wee reminder of the big changes coming in April.
Stage 3 of IRD’s business transformation is probably one of those worries in the back of our mind, in terms of what we can expect over the upcoming weeks. Will the roll out of the new system go smoothly? We certainly hope so but with any major IT upgrade there are bound to be a few kinks which will need to be ironed out.
Income Tax and Working for Families will be migrated to the new system. As such IRD phone lines, offices and online services will be down from 3pm 18April to 8am 26 April. This is IRD’s biggest offline period for services we have ever seen so the key is to ensure you are ready and get any correspondence in before the 18th. You are still able to make payments and the website is expected to be available.
For employers, your final Employer Monthly Schedule for March 2019 is due by 20 April 2019, so you will need to ensure that this is filed early before myIR becomes unavailable at 3pm on 18 April. If filed on the 26April you should not incur penalties, but we suggest filing early to avoid any system issues.
It is likely that IRD’s top priority is going to be ensuring that fortnightly payments for Working for Families go through at the right amounts, as any errors here will cause an instant influx of phone calls to IRD. Payment days are changing so be sure to check if these will impact you or your clients.
Other changes which will be happening include from 1 April IRD will no longer be issuing cheques for refunds, and will be paid automatically into your bank account listed. It is therefore worthwhile making sure that your bank details (if any are held) are correct.
Information about these changes and others including pay day filing can be found on IRD’s website
Please Note: We have just our updated our Tax Facts 2019/2020 document which we thought maybe of use to you as a reference.