Help understanding new tax laws

Are you up to speed with all the recent tax changes made in the latest bill to be passed into law by Parliament? Chances are that the Taxation (International Taxation, Life Insurance, and Remedial Matters) Act is still something all accounting practitioners are getting to grips with.

In the meantime though its policy advice arm has released a series of Special Reports to help you come up to speed with the changes.

The reports cover a number of topics, including:

• Associated Persons - One of more controversial changes was around associated persons rules. The act strengthens the definitions of "associated persons" in the Income Tax Act. The changes generally come into force in the 2010-11 income year. The changes relating to land transactions generally apply to land acquired on or after 6 October 2009, the date of enactment. Read the Special Report here
• CFCs & foreign dividends - The act introduced new rules for the taxation of foreign companies controlled by New Zealand residents and for foreign dividends received by New Zealand companies. The new rules apply for income years beginning on or after 1 July 2009. This special report has been compiled to help affected taxpayers and their advisors understand the consequences of the changes.
• R&D tax credit changes - remedial amendments were made to the now-repealed research and development tax credit. The amendments covered in this special report clarify the policy intention of the original legislation, to help claimants who are in the process of calculating their tax credit entitlements for the 2008-09 income year.
• Payroll giving - The act introduces the new voluntary payroll-giving scheme for charitable donations, which comes into effect on 7 January 2010. IRD's special report explains the tax mechanism for delivering tax credits for payroll donations and offers examples of possible approaches to setting up payroll giving in the workplace.
• GST & emissions trading - The act made a number of changes relating to the GST consequences of allocating and trading in emissions units. This special report outlines those changes, some of which took effect from enactment.

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