Partial closure of Inland Revenue centres

Revenue Minister Stuart Nash has issued a reminder for taxpayers to plan around a partial closure of Inland Revenue services between Thursday 12 and Tuesday 17 April. IR is implementing a ‘go-live’ of phase two of its multi-year Business Transformation project.

“Inland Revenue has been working closely with major users of its systems to plan for this temporary shutdown,” Mr Nash says.

“The partial closure will enable IR to move administration of some tax types over to its new computer system. The existing system will be taken offline to allow a smooth transition.

“Contact centres and front counters in offices will be closed to customers from 3.00pm Thursday 12 April to 8.00am Tuesday 17 April. The secure online service MyIR will also be unavailable during this time. ir-File, used by businesses to submit Employer Monthly Schedules, will be unavailable from 12.01am Thursday 12 April to 8.00am Tuesday 17 April.”

Mr Nash says the main IR website will still be available and customers can also make payments via online banking as usual.

“I regret the temporary inconvenience for some customers as parts of the system go offline.  IR is taking a cautious approach to enable the migration of data during the transition to its new system. The ultimate objective of the Business Transformation project is to make tax simpler,” Mr Nash says.

The changes will improve the administration and collection of three main tax types. A brand new option for provisional tax, known as the Accounting Income Method or AIM, will transform the way businesses pay provisional tax. The tax will only be payable when businesses make a profit and they can get immediate refunds for overpayments throughout the year.  The changes taking effect from 17 April will also enable fringe benefit tax and gaming machine duty to be filed, amended, or paid online.

“These changes will make compliance easier for businesses. The changes to provisional tax are particularly significant and remove a major headache for businesses who till now have had to base their calculations on the previous year’s earnings. We want to make it easier for customers in their dealings with IR,” says Mr Nash.

More information about the upgraded services is at http://www.ird.govt.nz/campaigns/2018/new-online-services-businesses.html