Directors’ fees & GST Inland Revenue has reissued its guidance on the GST treatment of directors’ fees and board members’ fees, replacing the three Public Rulings that have applied since 2023. BR Pub 26/01, 26/02 and 26/03, together with an accompanying Commentary, take effect from 7 August 2026 and set out when a director or […]

When an employee dies: what employers, executors and families need to know about tax The death of an employee is difficult enough for colleagues and family without the added complication of working out the tax treatment of any payments that follow. On 17 August 2026, Inland Revenue released Interpretation Statement IS 26/13, Income tax – […]

Having spent years as a CFO in medium-sized companies before moving into fractional CFO work, I’ve now worked with over 100 growing businesses. And here’s something that took me a while to accept this: traditional budgets don’t work for growth companies. Let me explain why. Growth SMEs need an agile and adaptable approach Coming from […]

Last week, I suggested something: Extraordinary organisations don’t happen by accident. They are intentionally built. That naturally led me to another question. If extraordinary organisations are intentionally built… what exactly are leaders building? Most organisations have capable people. They have a strategy. They invest heavily in technology, leadership development, and modern systems. Yet, organisations with […]

This is part of a three-part series on Succession — covering family, boards, and CEOs — and while each part stands on its own, they’re best read in order. The founder who came back — and the CEO who paid for it This example is a start-up company with an owner board. A majority of […]

Horticultural sector non-compliance on IR’s radar Inland Revenue has issued Revenue Alert RA 26/02, signalling a significant escalation in its compliance focus on the horticultural sector. The Alert identifies a cluster of practices the Commissioner considers pose a real risk to the integrity of the tax system, and confirms that growers, contractors and subcontractors across […]

Court Awarded Costs & GST IR has released Interpretation Statement IS 26/11, setting out when court-awarded costs and disbursements — and equivalent out-of-court settlement payments — attract GST. The short answer for most litigants: they don’t. But there are important exceptions, and the GST status of the party receiving the award can still affect how […]

Can you have a Bare Trust when property is mortgaged The Revenue has released a new  Question We’ve Been Asked (QWBA), addressing a question that arises frequently in family and cross-border lending arrangements: can a bare trust exist under section YB 21 of the Income Tax Act 2007 where the property held in trust is […]

Getting a cashback payment from the Bank – Taxable or not? I’m a little surprised it has taken this long however finally IR has released a draft Question We’ve Been Asked (QWBA), reference PUB00504, addressing a question many mortgage holders have likely wondered about: is the cash incentive payment (also known as a cashback payment) […]

It’s Income Tax filing time, and many are now completing their returns for the year. As a client, you will see the finished product: a return, filed on time, numbers reconciled, nothing left out that shouldn’t be. What happens behind the scenes, however, is never really witnessed: the checking, the chasing, and the refusal to […]