On 2 March 2019, Indian community organisation Ekta, hosted an Inland Revenue seminar for migrants on the tax implications of overseas income and assets.
The Office of Ethnic Communities promoted the event to support our focus on connecting people in ethnic communities to each other, wider society and government.
Understanding tax obligations can be hard. Inland Revenue and Ekta are committed to supporting New Zealand migrants to better understanding their taxes.
Some key points on tax obligations from the seminar are:
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- Tax residency is not related to the type of visa you have.
- Tax residents who are away from New Zealand for more than 183 days in a 12 month period but have a home here are considered New Zealand tax residents.
- Any person who has been in New Zealand for more than 183 days and receives income from anywhere in the world must declare it.
- Migrants have 49 months from the time of first becoming a New Zealand tax resident to qualify for a temporary tax exemption on foreign income if they wish to transfer those funds to New Zealand.
- If the 49 month timeline is missed, you can choose to make a voluntary full disclosure and in that event Inland Revenue may consider to waive the penalty for non-disclosure.
- New Zealand has an Automatic Exchange of Information Scheme with many countries and can access information from other countries on the basis of this scheme.
If you’re having trouble understanding your tax obligations, you can contact Inland Revenue.
For information on upcoming seminars, contact info@ekta.nz.