A new top tax rate of 39% will apply on personal income in excess of $180,000 for the 2021-2022 and later tax years. For most taxpayers this begins on 1 April 2021.

Key information about the IRD opening and closing dates over the holiday period. Thursday 24 December 2020: Closedown at 2pm for all services including front of house and contact centres Tuesday 5 January 2021: Normal hours resume The IRD website and myIR will be available for customers throughout the closedown E-File system and helpdesk will be unavailable from Friday 25 December, available again on Sunday 3 January 2021. IRD number applications that are submitted after 2pm on 24th December will not be received until 5 January 2021. As per the IRD standard 10 working day turn around these may not be processed until 19 January 2021. Urgent IRD Number Applications received between 2pm on 24 December and 8am 5 January 2020 will be processed by Wednesday 6 January 2021. Working for families Tax Credits (WFFTC) payments are unaffected by Christmas and New Year holidays. Normal payments will be made on Tuesday 22 December and Tuesday 29 December.

Grant Robertson has announced a new round of the wage subsidy, in response to the recent lockdown restrictions.

The Resurgence Wage Subsidy is a 2-week payment. Businesses will need to show a 40 per cent drop during a period of at least 14 days between August 12 and September 14, when compared to last year.

Protect your customers and staff with contact tracing. NZ COVID Tracer QR code posters are free to create and are mandatory from 12pm on Wednesday 19 August, for businesses and service providers under Alert Level 2 and 3.

If you are an existing Xero user or are considering changing your accounting software, our two-part webinar series on Hubdoc and managing documents and data is a must for you and your business!

Now is a good time to think of ways to speed up admin, so you can focus more time on running your business or spending extra time with family and friends. PKF and Xero are here to help you achieve this.

Businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of COVID-19. Where possible ACC are taking practical steps to provide what respite and support they can during these times, while also safeguarding New Zealand's no-fault accident insurance scheme.