Skip links

Main navigation

Johnston Associates South Chartered Accountants

Serving the Nelson Marlborough and Blenheim regions

News

by

Business Advisory – Assistant Client Manager

We are recruiting…
Business Advisory – Assistant Client Manager

Required for one of the fastest growing accounting firms in the top of the South Island. This progressive three partner CA firm has an impressive reputation in the market for the quality of its business advisory, and professional accounting services in the Nelson, and Marlborough regions. The firm offers leading technical expertise in a number of areas, including financial accounting, management reporting, tax, management consulting, and advisory.

We work with a wide range of clients across industries such as aquaculture, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, forestry, retail, property development, and hospitality to name just a few.

We have a great opportunity for a bright individual, at a junior level, to join our advisory team in Nelson. We seek an Accountant with a depth of experience and an understanding of the complexity of finance operations, reporting requirements, and best practice around systems, controls, maintenance and configuration.

Your strong relationship management skills will compliment your ability to interpret business needs and your customer service approach will enable you to provide the appropriate level of business support, financial modelling, and reporting that our clients require.

This is a multifaceted role which will suit a candidate with strong hands-on financial ability, along with commercial nous to work within an environment which is busy, and yet has a youthful energy about it.

Ideally, you will have:
– The ability to communicate and liaise effectively across the organisation, and with clients.
– A solid and proven background in the core accounting roles.
– A commercial understanding around systems, inventory, cost control, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting.
– Excellent system skills with the ability to interpret data quickly and efficiently.
– A mind for numbers and the ability to translate numbers well for nonfinancial stakeholders
– The ability to manage multiple projects and work effectively to deadlines
– A strong customer focus and be known for your ability to build & maintain effective relationships.
– Attention to detail.
– Self-motivated and enjoy working as a team.
– Thrive on quality and success.
– Experience with a number of accounting systems such as CCH iFirm, MYOB, AO, Banklink and Xero is advantageous but not essential as full training will be given to the suitable candidate.

What you need:
– 3+ years of BAS experience in a New Zealand CA environment.
– Excellent verbal and written skills, and the ability to liaise with a range of clients.

This role offers a competitive salary for the right candidate as well as ongoing professional development, and external training courses. We are an ATE and will support your professional development through in-house and external training.

To register your interest and to find out more about this opportunity, please contact Ben Halliday: bhalliday@jacal.co.nz

by

Several ways taxpayers can get caught out

Taxpayers who earn income from various sources may get caught short if they don’t plan ahead. This could come about in various ways:

• Airbnb
• Overseas investment
• Shares in an overseas company

AIRBNB INCOME

If you rent rooms or homes through Airbnb, you may not realise that the IRD considers you to be a landlord. Your rental income must be included in a tax return.

If you’re unsure of your tax obligations please consider speaking to one of our tax experts.

OVERSEAS RENTAL PROPERTY

You must declare any rental income you get from properties overseas. You can claim deductions for rental-related expenses, and you may also be able to claim a credit for tax paid in the other country on that income.

Complexities can arise when loans and mortgages are held overseas. Call us if this applies to you.

OVERSEAS TRUSTS

Under New Zealand law, trust matters are settlor-based. This means New Zealand tax treatment of the trust depends on where the settlor of the trust lives. As a trust does not have a legal personality, there is no concept of residency for trusts. However, a trust is recognised as a taxpayer, so New Zealand generally verifies the residency of the trustee to determine which income of the trust is subject to New Zealand tax.

IF YOU OWN SHARES IN A FOREIGN COMPANY

You will have to pay tax in New Zealand on foreign share dividends unless:
• You are a transitional resident, or
• The shares are subject to the foreign investment fund or controlled foreign company rules.

Dividends paid by overseas companies to transitional residents or non-New Zealand tax residents are not taxable in New Zealand for the transitional period.

The rules surrounding Foreign Investment Funds and Controlled Foreign Companies are complex and you should get professional advice on the taxation of offshore investments, whether from us or your financial advisor.

OVERSEAS-ISSUED CREDIT/DEBIT CARD

Having an offshore credit or debit card may or may not trigger New Zealand tax obligations. Note, though, that even if foreign withholding tax has been deducted on foreign income, that does not necessarily mean the income is no longer taxable in New Zealand.

It can be tricky to work out your tax position. Call us if you’re not sure, we’re here to help.

by

Christmas entertainment and gifts

With the countdown to Christmas well underway it’s a good time to revisit some of the tax rules when providing entertainment and gifts to staff and customers.

While a cash bonus may be welcomed, PAYE will need to be returned and it is important to bear in mind it can affect an employee’s entitlements to working for families’ tax credits, student loan repayments, and other social assistance.

A Christmas party for staff will be subject to the entertainment rules for tax purposes, meaning you will only be able to claim a 50% tax deduction for the costs of throwing the party. The same rule applies for any after works drinks.

Gifts of food and drink to customers are only 50% deductible. However, other types of gifts such as vouchers or soaps are 100% deductible.

A Christmas gift to your staff of wine or ham will be 100% deductible, but may attract fringe benefit tax (FBT) as an unclassified benefit if certain de minimis thresholds are exceeded. For quarterly FBT filers the de minimis threshold for all unclassified benefits provided to an employee is:

  • $300 or less for the employee per quarter; and
  • $22,500 for all employees in the current quarter and three preceding quarters.

As you can see from this brief overview there are definitely things you should consider before getting too carried away with festive cheer. For more information we recommend talking to one of our tax advisors – we’re here to help.

by

Welcoming Katrina Scorrar

We are delighted to introduce you to tax expert Katrina Scorrar, the latest addition to our Johnston Associates South team.

Katrina has over a decade of experience as a tax advisor working with a wide range of clients, helping them successfully negotiate what can often feel like an overwhelming array of rules and regulations. Specific areas where Katrina can assist you and your business include:
  • Taxation of overseas investments
  • Tax issues facing new and returning migrants
  • Tax treatment of pension transfers and withdrawals
  • Fringe Benefit Tax
  • General tax advice and planning.
Katrina is also treasurer on the board for Post Natal Support Nelson.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding tax, business or personal, then don’t hesitate to give us a call on 03 548 7437. We’re here to help.

by

Mid-year business health check

Spring is the perfect time to pause and look at how your business is performing against the targets you set at the start of the year. With five months before the end of the financial year there is plenty of time to work on any underperforming areas and make the most of the things that are going great, maybe even lifting your expectations.

Here are Johnston Associates South’s top tips for helping ensure you move into Summer in the best possible shape, and with a plan that is going to enable you to deliver the end of year results you are looking for.

• Review your year-to-date and business plan
Now is the perfect time to review your year-to-date results against your budget and key performance indicators. How have you performed and what are the reasons for any variances? Clarity around your business’s current performance will really help you plan the next five months, minimising any underperforming areas and maximising on opportunities for growth.

• Plan your cashflow
Cash is king so we suggest you take some time to plan your cashflow for the rest of the year. What are your remaining costs and where might you experience shortfalls?

• Review your tax obligations
By reviewing your tax obligations based on your actual year-to-date result, and projections for the rest of the year, you can make sure that tax is not being under or over paid, and also keep an eye on upcoming tax payment dates.

• Insurance cover
Take time to look over your insurance cover. Is your business well protected based on how it’s currently operating? Are you paying too much? Have you met all your obligations to your insurer such as letting it know about any changes of circumstance or significant new clients?

• Health and Safety at work
Your business needs to carry out frequent health and safety audits and make sure information about health and safety is shared with workers. Have you identified any safety hazards and risks in the last six months? If you have what steps have you taken to stop them happening? Now is a good time to hold a health and safety training session so all workers are engaged and understand the role they play.

• Accounting system check
Making sure your accounting system is accurate and up-to-date is very worthwhile, enabling you to rely on the information it generates for planning purposes and to save you time at year end.

• Make an appointment with your business advisor/accountant
If it’s been more than three months since you had a meeting with us then it’s time for a catch-up. The Johnston Associates South team is here to help. We are always interested in hearing about how your business is performing and discussing ways we can help you achieve your goals. Changes in your personal circumstances can also impact on your business.

by

More Tax for Multinationals in New Zealand

A movement of change has been quietly happening for a while in the tax world here in New Zealand. Our government is trying to update our systems to be easier to use and comparable on a global scale while providing a fair market for large and small businesses to operate in. Many Multinationals are not paying their fair share of tax this is known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)

Giants of the likes of Apple have for some time paid basically no tax in New Zealand, this is achieved using BEPS Strategies. In short, these companies create arrangements where they shift profits to countries with lower taxed jurisdiction, thus reporting significantly lower income from sales in New Zealand despite having a physical presence in the market. These particular BEPS strategies are known as transfer pricing and permanent establishment avoidance (TP and PE avoidance).

The New Zealand Government is seeking to strengthen our tax laws to combat is including

  • the Income Tax Act 2007
  • the Tax Administration Act 1994

 

There is a focus on improving transfer pricing rules, preventing abuse of double tax agreements used to avoid NZ tax, and improve administration systems to better enforce collection of tax from multinationals. This is being done in accordance with the G20/OECD standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters otherwise known as the “Automatic Exchange of Information”, “AEOI”, or the “AEOI standard” in financial publications.

AEOI is a global initiative to address the international problem of offshore tax evasion, which is evading tax by hiding wealth in offshore accounts. In essence, a government implements the AEOI standards requiring financial institutions to investigate financial accounts to identify those held or controlled by non-residents. If non-residential ownership/control is found the following information is shared with the government

  • identity information (including tax residence)
  • financial information (account balances and interest earned from accounts)
  • non-residents local tax administration.

To amend our tax laws in a way that removes any loopholes takes time and diligence, so these new requirements on financial institutions and multinationals will not come into effect until July 2017. After this time we may see a flow on effect in the New Zealand economy.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

When these changes begin to impact multinationals the New Zealand market will see the results of the choosen strategy to minimise the impact on their bottom line, some may accept that paying tax in each country is part of being a good global citizen, while others will taken other paths, we may find one or many of the following:

  • products from these companies have no significant change in size, price or availability
  • products from these companies increase in price
  • products from these companies decrease in product size but remain the same price (this strategy is call the ‘Just Noticeable Difference’)
  • products from these companies decrease in availability in the market (higher demand for fewer products allows a high price to be charged and accepted by consumers)
  • products from these companies are withdrawn from our market completely.

In the end we all want fair treatment of businesses in our economy and for these goliaths the New Zealand tax bill is a only one drop out of the ocean of their profits, do you think it’s fair they don’t pay tax?

 

Tax Policy BEPS – Transfer pricing and permanent establishment avoidance

http://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/publications/2017-dd-transfer-pricing-pe/chapter-1

Inland Revenue

A special report from Policy and Strategy – Automatic Exchange of Information

http://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-sr-aeoi.pdf

Inland Revenue