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Individuals and families Ngā tāngata me ngā whānau
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TAX RELIEF FOR ADVERSE AND EMERGENCY EVENTS

We understand that adverse or emergency events like flooding, droughts and
storms can affect how you manage your tax. It can mean you can’t pay on time or
need to update your details, such as income estimates, with us.

During some events we may offer additional support so please check the specific
events listed on this page or the Discretionary relief page.

Discretionary relief

There is also information about extra relief and support for customers affected
by the January and February 2023 weather events.

January and February 2023 weather events


UNABLE TO FILE OR PAY ON TIME

We understand you may be unable to file or pay your tax on time and we have
several ways to help you through this. You don’t need to contact us right now.
Get in touch when you reasonably can.  You may continue to receive computer
generated letters and notifications from us however we understand if you’re
prioritising your immediate response and recovery.


PAYING IN INSTALMENTS

Once you know what you can afford to pay, you can set up an arrangement to pay
in instalments. You can set this up in your myIR account or over the phone with
us. This will stop late payment penalties from applying.

Paying by instalments


PENALTIES

We can remit penalties if being affected by an emergency event stopped you from
being able to pay or file on time. You will still need to file the relevant
return and pay the tax as soon as reasonably possible. Contact us once you have
made payment.

Remitting payment penalties


INTEREST

For some emergency events we can remove interest that has been charged if you
were affected. If you’ve been affected by an emergency event, find out if your
interest can be removed.

Discretionary relief


FINANCIAL HARDSHIP

We have the discretion to write-off all or some of your tax owing and penalties
and interest charged depending on your situation.

Apply for financial relief - individuals in New Zealand

Apply for financial relief - companies, partnerships and trusts

Show all
Support for you or your family

If you receive or pay Working for Families or Child Support, and your family’s
situation has changed because of an emergency event, you may need to let us
know.


CHILD SUPPORT

If your family income or situation has changed this may affect your entitlements
or payments. If you have concerns or questions, or you are having trouble making
our payments by the due dates, please call us on 0800 221 221.

Estimating your income for child support


WORKING FOR FAMILIES

Working for Families can be claimed weekly, fortnightly or at the end of the
year.  As your entitlement is based on your yearly family income, your
entitlement may change if your family income has been affected by the emergency
event. You can update your estimated family income through myIR. 



There may also be event specific variations so please check the specific event
information listed below

Update my family income


GRANTS AND RELIEF PAYMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES

In an adverse or emergency event civil defence payments may be made available
from Work and Income (Te Hiranga Tangata). Civil defence payments can help cover
the costs of:

 * Food
 * Bedding
 * Clothing
 * Accommodation
 * Loss of income.

Because expenditure incurred on food, bedding, clothing and accommodation are
all in the nature of private household expenditure, there are no tax
consequences that arise if you receive these payments.

There are also no tax consequences that arise if a payment for loss of income is
provided to a person who usually receives income from either employment or a
benefit. If you are self-employed you may need to pay tax on the payment. Read
'Grants and relief payments for businesses' below.


KIWISAVER – SAVINGS SUSPENSION

A savings suspension is a temporary pause of deductions from your wages for up
to 12 months. 

If you have been contributing for more than 12 months you can apply for a
savings suspension through myIR. If you have been contributing for less than 12
months you will need to contact us to discuss this further.

Taking a savings break - less than 12 months of contributions


KIWISAVER HARDSHIP WITHDRAWAL

You can apply for a hardship withdrawal of your KiwiSaver contributions if you
have been contributing for longer than 2 months you will need to contact your
Scheme Provider 

If you have been contributing for less than 2 months you can apply by
downloading the KS5 on the IRD website and attaching this to a web message in
myIR.

Getting my Kiwisaver savings for significant financial hardship


DONATIONS AND DONEE ORGANISATIONS

If you make a monetary donation to an approved charity you may be entitled to a
tax credit.

Tax credits for donations

The page also includes a link to check whether the organisation you’re giving to
is an approved donee organisation.


STUDENT LOANS

There are a number of relief options available to people with student loans,
including:

 * Self-employed people can apply to have their student loan assessments reduced
 * Salary and wage earners can apply for a reduced repayment deduction
 * Anyone who is studying full-time and is earning under the annual repayment
   threshold can apply for a repayment exemption.

These 3 options are available through myIR.



There is more information on our student loan financial relief on our website.

I am having difficulty repaying my student loan  


TAILORED TAX CODES

You may be entitled to a special tax code if you're receiving a salary or wage
and have a loss to carry forward.

Tailored tax options

Support for businesses and self-employed people


SMALL BUSINESS CASHFLOW SCHEME (LOAN)

If you have repayments for your Small Business Cashflow loan that you will not
be able to meet due to an adverse event please contact us to talk about a
variation to your repayment schedule.


PROVISIONAL TAX

If you think your annual income is going to drop because of an adverse event,
you can choose to estimate your provisional tax for the year. This will reduce
the provisional tax you have to pay. You may even get some of the provisional
tax you’ve paid so far back. 

Estimation option


INCOME EQUALISATION SCHEME

If you have a farming, fishing or forestry business you may be able to use the
income equalisation scheme. We recommend you discuss the use of the income
equalisation scheme with your tax advisor. 



When using the income equalisation scheme there are specific timeframes but you
may be able to make a late deposit or an early withdrawal of funds in the scheme
outside of the usual timeframes.  If you’ve been affected by an adverse event,
find out if you can make a late deposit or an early withdrawal.

Discretionary relief


DONATING YOUR TRADING STOCK

Normally if you give your businesses trading stock away you still have to pay
tax as if you had sold it. But if you've donated trading stock between 17 March
2020 and 31 March 2024, for example, to help people affected by COVID or because
of the February 2023 weather events, this might not apply.   

Tax relief for donations of trading stock


GRANTS AND RELIEF PAYMENTS FOR BUSINESSES

During an adverse or emergency event, a range of grants or subsidies may be made
available to businesses affected by that event. How these payments are treated
for income tax purposes depends on where the payment originates from.


GRANTS OR SUBSIDIES RECEIVED BY BUSINESSES FROM PUBLIC OR LOCAL AUTHORITIES

These are payments made by Government departments or other instruments of
Government (public authorities), or regional and territorial authorities (local
authorities), to assist businesses.  



For income tax purposes payments received from these sources are treated in the
following ways:

 * Where the payment is provided to subsidise expenses that would either usually
   be deductible to that business, or used to acquire assets that are
   depreciable, the payment is not treated as assessable income, but
 * a deduction is not allowed for the expenses when they are incurred by the
   business (to the extent that they are funded by the payment).  If the payment
   is used to acquire a depreciable asset, depreciation may be claimed on that
   asset but the depreciable cost base of the asset must be reduced by the
   amount of the payment used to acquire it.  The business needs to keep records
   of any expenses incurred.

Where the payment is made as a top-up of the income of the business, made in
respect of expenditure that is not ordinarily deductible to the business, or is
used to acquire non-depreciable assets, then their receipt is treated in the
same way as grants or subsidies received by businesses from all other sources,
as set out below.

Further information regarding grants or subsidies received by businesses from
public or local authorities can be found in our booklet Grants and subsidies
(IR249).

Tax on grants and subsidies


GRANTS OR SUBSIDIES RECEIVED BY BUSINESSES FROM ALL OTHER SOURCES

If a business receives a grant or subsidy from a source other than a public or
local authority, it will need to pay income tax on it if:

 * the payment is to reimburse the business for a loss of income
 * the payment is received as a subsidy for expenses that would usually be
   deductible to that business. The expense may be claimed as a deduction when
   it is incurred by the business.
 * the business does not use all of the payment received and any remaining
   amount goes into the businesses general fund. This remaining amount will be
   taxable no matter what the payment was originally received for.

A business is not liable for income tax on a payment that it receives if:

 * the payment is received to help pay for capital assets or expenses that do
   not produce income, or
 * the payment helps pay for or reinstate a capital asset that will be used to
   produce income.

When the payment is used to get or reinstate an asset that is depreciable, the
cost price of that asset (on which a depreciation claim is based) must be
reduced by the amount of the payment received.  

There is more information regarding grants or subsidies received by businesses
from all other sources in our booklet on Grants and subsidies (IR249).

Tax on grants and subsidies


GRANTS, SUBSIDIES AND GST

Government grants and other payments made by public authorities or on behalf of
the Crown, are liable for GST when received by a GST-registered person (or a
person who is required to register for GST) in relation to their taxable
activity.  The payments must be included as income in the GST return.

There is more information on grants, subsidies and GST on our booklet on Grants
and subsidies (IR249).

Tax on grants and subsidies


CASH DONATIONS OR KOHA

The receipt of cash donations or koha will not have any tax consequences where
it is provided to assist in alleviating the effects of an adverse or emergency
event.  

Grants, subsidies and other relief payments are complex matters so please
discuss with your tax advisor.


INSURANCE PAYOUT

If you're registered for GST (or required to be registered) and receive a payout
relating to your taxable activity then you will usually need to account for GST
on the payout.

If the payment is for lost trading stock (livestock, sales goods) or consumables
(hay, raw materials) or for loss of income or profits, it is also taxable
income.

If the payment is for depreciable capital assets (barns, sheds, manufacturing
plant, kilns) the insurance amount is required to be accounted for in
calculating the amount of recovery of past depreciation claims.

If you received insurance for property that is pooled for depreciation purposes,
decrease the book value of the pool by the amount of the insurance payout.

Usually, the insurance is income in the year the insured event takes place, if
the extent of the damage can be ascertained at that time. 

This is complex matter so please discuss with your tax advisor.


IRREPARABLY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED ASSETS

An asset, other than a building, that is irreparably damaged is treated as a
disposal or sale of the asset and triggers a gain or loss for tax purposes. 
Therefore, if the sale or insurance receipts received are less than your
remaining book value for the asset you can claim this as a deduction. Read our
Depreciation (IR260) guide for further information.

Depreciation guide - IR260

This rule does not apply to farming, horticultural and forestry improvements
such as tracks, yards, bores or wells etc which are amortisable under section DO
4 and Schedule 20 of the Income Tax Act 2007 – you can't claim the remaining
unamortised portion.

This is a complex matter so please discuss with your tax advisor.


CLEAN-UP COSTS

It may be difficult to determine whether clean-up costs are capital or revenue.

This is a complex matter so please discuss with your tax advisor.


BUILDING DEMOLITION

Building demolition costs are not deductible, unless it was a temporary
building' – one that has a finite life and will be demolished or removed:

 * from a construction site where it was erected, either before or when
   construction has finished.
 * when plant or machinery is removed or replaced, and the building was erected
   to house such plant or machinery

This is a complex matter so please discuss with your tax advisor.


LOST BUSINESS RECORDS

If you have lost business records due to an adverse event, you can:

 * Contact your suppliers and ask for copies of invoices or statements issued.
 * Ask your employees to supply a copy of their copy of the employment
   agreement.
 * Get replacement versions for documents such as tax code declarations (IR330),
   Kiwisaver enrolment information (KS2 and IR346K) or vehicle logbooks.
 * Where copies or replacement versions are not available please record details
   as best you can of the relevant transactions including dates, names and
   contact details, a description of the goods or services and amounts
   paid/payable.

Where a reasonable attempt has been made to reconstruct business records within
a reasonable timeframe Inland Revenue will not penalise you for incomplete or
missing records.


MONEY BORROWED TO KEEP BUSINESS GOING

As long as the borrowed money is used for business purposes, the interest is tax
deductible.

 


CONTACTING US

If you need to talk to us, here are your options:

 * Call us on our dedicated phoneline 0800 473 566
 * Send us a message in myIR
 * Come in to one of our front of house offices.

Our customer sites

You can also get in contact with a tax agent for professional advice
(accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer).

 

UPDATES: TAX RELIEF FOR ADVERSE AND EMERGENCY EVENTS

 * 20 Feb 2023 Recent weather events - Cyclone Gabrielle update
   
   Further information on support available to those affected by the recent
   cyclones and adverse weather.

 * 16 Feb 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle - initial advice
   
   If you have been affected by the cyclone, you do not need to contact us right
   away. Further information will be available in the coming days.

 * 09 Feb 2023 Emergency event - Heavy rain and flooding in the upper North
   Island
   
   We are prioritising our support to customers affected by the North Island
   flooding including farmers and growers.

Subscribe More updates


TOPICS

 * Discretionary relief

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