Tax Updates: 5 February 2024

Welcome to this week’s review of tax issues where Richard comments on what’s been happening in the world of tax over the past week. If you have a question or would like a second opinion on any national or international tax issues, please contact Richard via email at richard@gilshep.co.nz.

New IS on taxation of trusts released

It may not seem that long ago, 2018 in fact (although scarily whilst seeming just like yesterday, it was actually six years ago!), when Inland Revenue (IR) released a fairly comprehensive interpretation statement surrounding the taxation of trusts – IS 18/01.

Therefore, some of you may be a little surprised to hear that IS 24/01 has been released with the same title as its predecessor. The document is a general guide as to how income derived by the trustees of a trust is taxed, also explaining the various compliance obligations imposed on settlors, trustees, and beneficiaries under tax law. The primary reason provided for the new release was the issue of IS 19/04, which was clearly published post-IS 18/01. It discussed distributions from foreign trusts, explaining the concept of a trust in more detail to help determine whether amounts of money or property received by New Zealand residents from overseas are taxable under the trust rules. The latest IS, therefore, includes portions of the IS 19/04 commentary where appropriate.

IS 24/01 is a 170-page document (no, I have not completed reading it yet), and I would suggest at this early stage in my reading, it could become your one-stop-shop and place to go whenever you have a trust taxation question.

Note that IR has stated that IS 24/01 does not deal with the proposed increase in the trustee tax rate to 39% effective April 1st, 2024 (which I suspect will go ahead now). Instead, this issue will be covered in a future TIB post the passing of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill (although, please note my below update on this topic).

This article was originally published through the ‘A Week In Review’ newsletter. If you would like to receive Richard’s tax updates every Monday morning, you can subscribe here.

AUTHOR:

Richard Ashby

"A good work/life balance is important."

Read Richard's profile.
Email Richard direct.

If you don’t know where to begin, want to talk through something, or have a specific question but are not sure who to address it to, fill in the form, and we’ll get back to you within two working days.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.