New Zealand Accountants

Temporary Migrant Rules

Transitional Resident Rules

On 1 April 2006 new legislation was enacted with the intention of making New Zealand a more attractive destination for skilled migrants or ex-pats looking to return.

Up until this date when you moved to New Zealand and assumed tax residency you were liable in New Zealand for all income irrespective of source. This means if you moved to New Zealand but retained offshore investments you were required to bring to account in New Zealand any gains on these offshore investments.

In some instances this will prove to be particularly onerous as in certain instances unrealised foreign exchange gains were brought within the tax net.

From 1 April 2006 a new migrant or a returning ex-pat who has not been tax resident inNew Zealand for 10 years has a 48 month window where they are exempt from having to account for tax in New Zealand on offshore income.

Note that there are exceptions to this such as income from employment, but it does cover a wide range of offshore income including rent from offshore property, interest on offshore accounts, dividends from offshore companies and exchange movements on offshore financial assets.

Some other points to note about these rules is that you are only eligible for them once. That is, you cannot take advantage of them for 48 months, leave New Zealand for 10 years and return and apply them again.

And needless to say it is a temporary exemption so that once the 48 month window has closed offshore income needs to be bought to account under the ordinary tax rules.

Asspecialist New Zealand Accountants, we are involved every day with helping people who live in the US, AUS, UK, Canada (or anywhere) do business with New Zealand.

As New Zealand Accountants, we can help you to navigate through these issues so you can avoid the stress and cost of paying tax where not required.

To learn more you can use our free Ask The Experts service or we would be happy to arrange a Free Interview by phone, email or Skype.