Updated 13 December 2025 Late in November we received a newsletter from lawyer Sue Barker which contained the following information: “In a new consultation paper issued on 14 November 2025, entitled Taxation and the not-for-profit sector: Targeted consultation on detailed design, IRD is proposing to create a new category of “donor-controlled” charity Read more
A new blog post from Grant Thornton asks “Is it taxable?” If you’re a business, the answer is usually clear. The rules around calculating a company’s taxable income are well established. But what if you’re a mutual association – a resident’s association, membership organisation or industry group (among others)? Contents Read more
We are grateful to our friends at GRANT THORNTON NEW ZEALAND who have alerted us to an IRD discussion document which could potentially have major ramifications for a wide variety of “mutual associations” including incorporated societies that are not also registered NZ charities. -o0o- Inland Revenue has just released a Read more
This is an updated version of an earlier post Q: I would be grateful for information about any legal requirements that must be met with respect to the period of time that a trust must retain any documents, such as minutes of meetings, financial records, correspondence, etc A: We visited Read more
Opinion – In the bible, Jesus is reported as saying “… Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s …” (Matthew 22:21). This is indeed a tenet that is applicable in this modern world – though for ‘Caesar’ read government (in general) or ‘The IRD’ (in particular) as Christ was referring Read more
IRD advice on Honoraria and taxing payments to volunteers has been updated. Includes reimbursement of volunteers for expenses, mileage and honoraria. < Go to IRD website > < See also: Fringe Benefit Tax and Charities >
If you provide vouchers or short term charge facilities to your employees, from 1 April 2014 the rules on FBT are changing. Charities will no linger be exempt when the total value of the benefit (eg petrol vouchers, pre-loaded credit cards etc) exceeds the lower of 5% of the employee Read more