IRD are closing down!! by Sharon Olsen & Stewart Russell
Before you get too excited, they are only closing for a week.
MyIR online services are unavailable from 3pm on 21st October re-opening on the morning of 28th October.
There is never a good time to shut down any computer system (especially the tax system) but the timing of the labour weekend holiday provided the ideal opportunity for the IRD to minimise the disruption.
As the computer system is being taken down, you will not be able to file any returns or payroll information and the IRD won’t be processing payments.
The filing and payment deadline for GST and provisional tax payments has been extended from 28 October to 4 November.
Employment and payroll information will need to be filed within the two business days of paying staff, but the closure days will not be counted as business days. For example, if you pay your team during the closure period, you will have until Friday 29th October to file your payroll returns.
Any payments that are made to the IRD during the closure period will be processed as soon as the system reopens.
MyIR is the system used to apply for the resurgence support payments. Therefore, no applications will be possible until 28 October. However, the COVID wages subsidy payments are administered by MSD, so those applications can continue to be processed.
This is the final stage of upgrading the IRD system, which has been gradually rolled out over the last five years.
MyIR users should find life much simpler, with all taxes now on the same system. It will be easier to transfer refunds or amounts owed between the various tax types. And any tax overpaid via the payroll system should now be automatically refunded for the average employee.
There will be a new Alerts tab on the myIR homepage which will allow you direct access to all your alerts. They will be sorted by account type and due date. It will have a description that will indicate what IRD require you to do next and quick access links.
MyIR will adapt to your screen size, making it easier to use on any computer,tablet or mobile phone.
You will be able to update details and manage your child support account more easily in myIR. Payments received by the 20th of the month will be passed on to the receiving carer by the 23rd of the same month.
Child support legislation changes are intended to improve the child support process and provide more certainty to customers. It will become compulsory for child support payment to be deducted from the salaries or wages of the returning or newly liable (paying) parent.
For employers, if you haven’t included an employee in your employment information and they have no cease date, or if they continually show as having nil earnings, the relationship will be ceased after 3 months. This will improve the accuracy of employee data, which is particularly important for the likes of compulsory child support deductions.
The IRD are trying to help taxpayers to comply with the rules and are providing the technology to try and make life a little bit easier.
Believe it or not - tax should now be simpler!!!