This article was originally created for Hayes Knight (now Nexia Auckland).

29 October 2019

Technology has seen more and more of us making our tax payments electronically, which Inland Revenue actively encourages. It is therefore timely to review when Inland Revenue accepts payments as having been received on time.

NEW ZEALAND ELECTRONIC PAYMENT

will be received on time when it has been electronically paid or direct credited into an Inland Revenue account either on or before the due date. Make sure you know your bank’s processing schedule.

DIRECT DEBIT

can be set up in myIR and will be received on time when it has been credited into an Inland Revenue account on or before the due date.

DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS PAYMENT

will be received on time when it has been paid or direct credited into an Inland Revenue account on or before the due date.

CASH AND EFTPOS PAYMENTS

can be made at Westpac branches (not at Inland Revenue offices and are received on time if they are made on or before the due date. (Note: Westpac is not authorised to accept returns, only payments). Taxpayers with a Westpac bank account can also make payments via Westpac ATMs, provided they have a payment slip with a bar code that has been issued by Inland Revenue.

PHYSICAL PAYMENTS BY CHEQUE

will be accepted as being received on time if delivered to an Inland Revenue office on or before the close of business on the due date. Drop boxes are inside Inland Revenue office reception areas and are available during reception opening hours.

CHEQUES POSTED

to an Inland Revenue postal address, whether posted from within New Zealand or from overseas, must be received on or before the due date.

POST-DATED CHEQUES.

Inland Revenue will make its best effort not to bank post-dated cheques until the specified date. A cheque that is post-dated after the due date, even though it may have been received on or before the due date, will be treated as late.

TAX POOLING

when a payment is transferred from Inland Revenue’s tax pooling account into a taxpayer’s tax account it is treated as received. The effective date of the transfer can be no earlier than the date the tax pool deposit was first received by Inland Revenue.

OVERSEAS ELECTRONIC PAYMENT

will be received on time when it has been electronically paid or direct credited into an Inland Revenue account either on or before the New Zealand due date.

WEEKENDS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

  • If a due date falls on a weekend or a public holiday, then an electronic payment will be on time when it is credited into an Inland Revenue account on or before the next working day.
  • If a due date falls on a weekend or a public holiday (including a provincial anniversary day), a payment will be on time if it is received by an Inland Revenue branch office at a Westpac branch or at an Inland Revenue postal address on the next working day (this only applies to taxpayers who usually deliver payments to a Westpac branch or Inland Revenue drop box in the province that is celebrating its anniversary day and so are unable to access those sites on that day).

If you have any questions on when a tax payment will be received on time by Inland Revenue, contact your usual Hayes Knight advisor.

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This article was originally created for Hayes Knight (now Nexia Auckland).