NZ Tax Workspace

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Overview

The NZ Tax Workspace helps New Zealand organisations review investment income, tax credits, and Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) calculations for one entity and tax year at a time. The NZ tax landing page lists every company, trust, individual, or other entity in the organisation. Each card shows the current tax profile, latest workpaper status, and a clear link to the latest tax year. Earlier years remain available on the same card. Each entity has its own tax profile and figures. Investments and transactions assigned to another entity are not included. It is designed as a review and working paper, not a final tax return. Always compare the summary with source documents and speak with your tax adviser before filing. The workspace uses a compact layout so the main figures, review items, and actions stay visible without turning the page into a long presentation. The workspace starts with a clear result, then lets you open the detail only when you need it. It has eight views:

• Summary: start here to see the estimated position and what needs review before you rely on the figures.
• Review queries: answer the factual questions that InvestSync cannot safely decide from transaction data alone.
• Income & credits: review dividends, interest, withholding tax and credits against source statements.
• FIF: review offshore holdings, exemptions, values, FDR and CV calculations.
• Calculations & audit: follow the result from source records to the estimated balance, with source rules and audit references.
• Reports: choose the right output for your organisation. The annotated report is always available.
• Workpaper: record adjustments, evidence, assumptions, notes, and review status for the selected entity and year.
• Entity settings: maintain the entity tax profile and check investment domicile.

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Before you start

Check these items before relying on the summary:

• The organisation country is set to New Zealand.
• The correct entity and tax year were selected from the NZ tax landing page.
• The IRD number, taxpayer type, PIR rate, and FIF method are correct in Entity settings.
• Each investment is assigned to the entity that owns it.
• The tax year is the one you want to review.
• Each investment has the right domicile country. New listed investments are usually filled from the ticker or exchange, but private and unlisted holdings should be checked when they are added.
• Offshore investments have opening and closing values for the tax year.
• Buy, sell, dividend, interest, and tax credit entries have been reviewed against source records.
• Foreign currency entries have the right FX rate for the transaction date.
• The Entity-year tax workpaper includes other income, deductions, losses, tax paid, residency, and any adviser-confirmed overrides that are not in the investment ledger.

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What the summary shows

The top cards show:

• Taxable income: assessable income after saved deductions and losses.
• Estimated tax: an estimate based on the organisation’s taxpayer type and the selected tax year.
• Tax credits: credits actually applied, plus refundable tax already paid.
• Net tax payable or estimated refund: the signed result after credits and provisional tax.

The income section lists dividends and interest separately. If an offshore dividend is covered by FIF, it is shown as excluded from ordinary dividend income so it is not counted twice.

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Summary

The Summary view starts with the estimated tax position and explains, in plain English, what the engine found. It shows the income brought into the calculation, FIF treatment, tax before credits, credits applied, and source-data exceptions. The review-readiness panel shows how many questions have been answered and whether any required decisions remain open. Open Review queries before relying on the figures.

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Review queries

Review queries turn uncertain tax facts into a clear list of questions. Each question explains why InvestSync is asking, what the answer changes, the evidence to keep, and the Inland Revenue guidance or legislation behind it. Queries can cover:

• New Zealand residence and transitional-resident treatment.
• The legal domicile of an investment.
• Australian FIF exemption conditions.
• The maximum-cost FIF threshold.
• Whether an unlisted foreign company with material ownership needs an active-business, CFC, or attributable-FIF review.
• The purpose and pattern of share-sale activity.
• Foreign withholding and treaty limits.

Choose Not sure when the evidence is incomplete. This keeps the matter visible instead of silently making a tax assumption. Saved answers belong only to the selected entity and tax year. Changing a reviewed answer reopens the workpaper as a draft. The engine does not apply a complex active-business exemption from a simple Yes answer. It records the decision and evidence requirement for an accountant or adviser because the statutory test needs ownership and accounts-based support.

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Working with several entities

Choose an entity and year from the tax landing page before beginning a review. You can also change the entity or year from inside a workspace. The page address changes to identify both choices, and the workspace reloads with only that entity’s assigned investments. The saved workpaper is isolated by entity and tax year. Its status, notes, inputs, residency position, FIF evidence, and overrides do not carry to another entity or year. Owners and admins can update the selected entity’s tax settings in Entity settings. Tax identifiers are only shown to owners and admins. Other members can view the calculation settings and ask an owner or admin to change them. The investment domicile table also follows the selected entity. This helps prevent a domicile change from being made against the wrong entity’s holding.

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Report options

Reports shows the outputs that suit the organisation and the data available for the year. The Annotated report is always available. It explains the figures in plain English and is useful when sharing the position with a client, trustee, director, or adviser. You can download the annotated report text, email the summary, or switch to the return worksheet and copy figures into your workpapers. Accounting workpaper downloads an Excel file with the summary, source income, FIF schedule, return bridge, saved assumptions, review-query decisions, calculation logic, checks, audit references, and Inland Revenue or legislation sources. Other options appear when relevant, such as:

• IR3, IR4, or IR6 worksheet based on the organisation type.
• FDR v CV choices when FIF applies.
• Income schedule when income is present.
• Credits schedule when credits are present.

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FIF review

The FIF section shows each foreign holding, its opening value, FDR income, CV income, the saved portfolio method, and assessable amount. For ordinary FDR-eligible shares, one method is applied across the supported portfolio rather than changed holding by holding on screen. Use the domicile setting carefully:

• New Zealand holdings are treated as income only.
• Most foreign holdings are reviewed under FIF.
• Foreign debt, cash, and term-deposit investments are kept outside FIF when their CFI code or investment category identifies them. Ambiguous legal interests are flagged for review.
• Australian holdings are included in FIF until the entity-year workpaper confirms all ASX exemption conditions: official ASX listing, Australian residence, a franking account, and no stapled stock.
• If the domicile is missing or looks wrong, update it before relying on the tax summary.

If a holding shows Review, check whether values are missing or whether the source data needs attention before relying on the figure. The $50,000 de minimis test uses the maximum total cost of relevant foreign holdings on any day in the year. Individuals are tested automatically. A trust must have eligible trustee type A confirmed in the workpaper. CV is available only for individuals and trusts with eligible trustee type B confirmed. If a holding was both bought and sold during the year, confirm whether a quick-sale adjustment is required and save the supported amount in the workpaper. Revenue account method eligibility is flagged for adviser review and is not applied automatically.

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Credits and return figures

Foreign tax paid is limited to the New Zealand tax on the matching overseas-income segment and may be further limited by a double tax agreement. Save an adviser-confirmed override when the treaty cap is lower. Unused overseas tax is not shown as refundable or carried forward. For individuals, enter an adviser-confirmed independent earner tax credit where it applies. It is applied before overseas tax and imputation credits. Ordinary excess imputation credits are carried forward rather than refunded. RWT, PAYE, and provisional tax are then included as refundable tax already paid. For individual workspaces, the return bridge follows the current IR3 layout, including Question 13 for New Zealand interest, Question 14 for New Zealand dividends, Question 17 for overseas income and tax, Question 18 for partnership income, and Question 36 for the tax position. Use the current Inland Revenue return for the filing year as the final reference.

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Calculations, legislation and audit trail

Open Calculations & audit to see how each figure was built. The calculation bridge shows the formula, plain-English explanation, amount and relevant source rule. Links open the current Inland Revenue guidance or New Zealand legislation in a new tab. The FIF references use the current Income Tax Act numbering, including section EX 52 for the FDR annual method and section EX 51 for comparative value. The cost threshold is shown with sections CQ 5 and EX 68. Rules can change, so always use the source for the selected filing year and confirm unusual positions with an adviser. The audit trail includes the calculation step, amount, and source reference where available. Use it to trace a figure back to transactions, tax entries, investment records, or valuation data. This is useful when preparing workpapers or answering adviser questions.

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Good practice