Wishing you a safe and relaxing Christmas |
It's that time of year again and the Holidays are just around the corner!
Thank you for working with us this year. We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a safe and relaxing Christmas, and an abundant New Year!
With the holidays fast approaching, it's a busy time for everyone and this can mean it's difficult to keep track of key tax dates during December and January. Below are the compliance dates coming up. If you have questions or need help with any of the following, we are here to help. KEY TAX DATES – DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023
- 20 December - PAYE - PAYE due on returns filed for November.
- 16 January 2023 - Provisional Tax - Second Instalment due. We'll be sending out reminders for these in the coming weeks.
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16 January - GST - Payment for November GST Return. The IRD grants an extension for the holiday period (these payments would usually be due the end of December). If you have a GST due and we file on your behalf, we'll be getting in touch during the first week of December to get these returns sorted early.
- 20 January - PAYE - PAYE due on returns filed for December.
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30 January - GST - Return and payment for clients with a GST period ending 31 December.
Note: provisional tax due dates apply to clients who have a March balance date. Different dates will apply for those clients who have different balance dates. Check with us if you’re not sure. |
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Giving gifts to Clients (think about the tax) |
That's right, the season of giving is upon us. We've gone over Client gifts in the past, but now is an important time for a refresh in the lead up to the biggest month for gift giving in the world. While the fun part is thinking about parties and presents, take a moment to remind yourself about the tax rules.
If your Christmas giving includes gifts to clients, remember that some gifts will be fully deductible while others will be only 50% deductible.
The rule of thumb with gifts is that if they consist of food or drink, you can only claim 50% of the expense as a tax deduction. If you are giving out gift baskets or hampers and some of the contents are food or drink, but not all, the food or drink items are 50% deductible, but the other gift items are 100% deductible. When you come to claim the tax deduction, you will need to apportion the expense between the 100% deductible items and the 50% deductible items. And you will need to make a GST adjustment for expenses which are 50% deductible.
If we help to process your GST, then we might ask you about these expenses in the months to come. If not, we are able to make an adjustment for these expenses in your accounts to ensure the correct treatment is made. |
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| Drawing up a new Staff contract this summer? |
Heading into the Christmas rush, it can be easy to miss something in your new staff members’ contracts. To ensure your employees are treated fairly and according to the law, follow these key rules. All employees must have a signed employment agreement before they start work. -
Give new employees time (three to five days) to read, understand and ask questions before they sign the contract.
- The contract must include certain clauses, including the type of employment (fixed-term, casual, or permanent), duties, pay, and other benefits, the place and hours of work, how problems can be resolved, etc.
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Use templates in New Zealand Workforce Manager or an Employment Agreement Builder to help you put together a legal employment contract. It covers what you must do by law and sets out common mistakes made by employers and how to avoid them. It takes about 30 minutes to complete, and you can save it part way through.
All employees have minimum rights that are set out in law, including: - Minimum wage: Employees must be paid at least the minimum wage; the current adult minimum rate is $21.20 per hour.
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Public holidays: Unless written in the contract, employees don’t have to work on public holidays. If they work on a public holiday, they must be paid time and a half, plus if it is a normal workday for them, they also get an alternative day off.
- Health and safety: Employers must provide appropriate training and information for workers so that they can work safely.
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In the race to have everything done before the Christmas closedown, make sure you take some time to look at your cash flow and plan for the new year.
January is a month with some key tax dates, a lot of payments fall due on 16 January, in particular. As well as the usual PAYE return dates, GST returns for both November and December are due in January. For many, January can also be a big month for provisional tax.
In December and early January, while many businesses can reap the seasonal retail reward, cashflow can suffer with the expense of gifts, entertainment, holiday pay, summer hiring and penalty rates. If the Christmas closedown is followed by a lull in consumer spending while your regular customers take a break on the beach, cash flow can slow to a trickle.
Make sure you can take a break yourself, without staying awake wondering how you’re going to pay for it. Plan ahead to make sure you’re covered. |
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Working out what an employee gets paid for taking a day off on annual holidays will depend partly on what they have earned in the previous 12 months because they must be paid for holidays at these average weekly earnings if they exceed the employee’s ordinary weekly pay as at the beginning of the holiday.
Find out more about how to calculate payment rates for holidays and leave at Employment New Zealand, or using Wolters Kluwer's New Zealand Workforce Manager. Remember, Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Sunday this year. For an employee working on these days who wouldn’t normally work on Sundays, the public holiday is treated as falling on the following Tuesday.
If your employee would normally work on Sunday, then the public holiday is treated as falling on Sunday (the calendar date of the public holiday).
Whichever day the entitlement falls on for them, if the employee works on that day, they will get time and a half for any time they have agreed to spend working on that day. And if the public holiday falls on what would otherwise be a working day for them, and they work on that day, they are entitled to an alternative holiday. |
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| We wish you all the best for a safe, restful and fun Holiday season this year. As is customary, our Office will be closed for a period from the 23rd of December till the 16th of January so that our staff can enjoy some well earned time with their family and friends.
Please get in touch with us before the 23rd of December if you have any questions or concerns. |
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