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Individual income tax
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Personal tax summaries (PTS)

What is a PTS?

A personal tax summary (PTS) is for salary and wage earners and shows your income and tax deduction details for the year. These details are based on the employment, pension or benefit information provided to us each month by your employer or payer. Your PTS tells you if you've:

  • overpaid your tax and are due a refund, or
  • underpaid your tax and have tax to pay.

Will I be sent a PTS?

We'll automatically send you a PTS by mid-July if you:

  • received Working for Families Tax Credits from us
  • received Working for Families Tax Credits from Work and Income and earned over:
    • $36,827 for the 2010 tax year
    • $35,914 for the 2009 tax year
    • $35,000 for the 2007 tax year
    • $20,356 for the 2005 and 2006 tax years
    • $20,000 for the 2004 and previous tax years
  • have a student loan and haven't had enough money deducted from your salary, wage or benefit income. We'll also send you an end of year repayment calculation (EYRC) for your student loan. See "Find out more" below.
  • used the wrong tax code
  • used a special tax code
  • used a casual agricultural employee (CAE) or an election day worker (EDW) tax code and earned more than $200 from that source
  • received income as an IR56 taxpayer only. See "Find out more" below.

We send your PTS in July because we need to first process all the employment details that your employer sends us at the end of the tax year.

Do I have to request a PTS?

Some people who don't automatically receive a PTS need to request one in August.

You must request a PTS if you... and you...
received income between $40,000 and $70,000 received more than $200 of interest taxed at less than 33%.
received income over $70,000 received more than $200 of interest or dividends taxed at less than 39%.
received income over $40,000 received more than $200 of taxable Māori authority distributions.
paid child support through Inland Revenue received more than $200 of interest, dividends or taxable Māori authority distributions.
have a student loan and earned over the repayment threshold of $19,084 (for the 2010 tax year) received more than $200 of interest, dividends or taxable Māori authority distributions.


Use our online tool to find out if you need to request a PTS

From April, you can check if you need to request a PTS for the tax year just ended by using our online tool Do you need to file an IR3 return or receive a personal tax summary? (available under "Work it out").

Who should request a PTS?

You may be entitled to a refund if you:

Work out if you should request a PTS

To check if you're due a refund before requesting a PTS, you can use our Personal tax summary calculator under "Work it out". If you request a PTS and it calculates that you have tax to pay, you'll have to pay the amount shown.

You'll need your income details to use the calculator. You can get these from:

  • Look at Account Information (you'll need to be registered to use this service),
  • your summary of earnings. You can request one by using our Request a summary of earnings service under "Get it done online", or
  • your end of year pay slip(s) from your employer(s).

If the result is a refund, you'll need to request a PTS to get your refund.

How to request a PTS

From August, you can request a PTS by using our Request a personal tax summary service under "Get it done online". You'll need to have the following information to hand:

  • any interest, dividend or taxable Māori authority distribution details
  • whether you're entitled to the tax credit for children or the income under $9,880 tax credit
  • any expenses you can claim.

In most cases you'll receive your PTS within 10 working days of requesting it, however please allow a maximum of 30 working days for it to arrive.

Your PTS will also be available to view through your online services account as soon as it is processed. If you are not already signed up to our online services, you can register now - go to "Secure online services".

Note

You can request a PTS for any of the last five years but not earlier. For example from 1 April 2009 you will no longer be able to request a PTS for the tax year ending March 2004.

What expenses can be claimed on a PTS?

You can claim the following expenses on your PTS:

  • a fee charged by someone for completing your tax return
  • commission on interest or dividend income (but not bank fees)
  • interest on money you borrowed to buy shares or to invest, as long as the investment will produce some income that's taxable
  • premiums on loss of earnings insurance, provided the benefit from the insurance policy is taxable income.

Your PTS and Working for Families Tax Credits

If you receive Working for Families Tax Credits from us, you'll be sent a form at the end of the tax year, which shows your family details that we've used to calculate your Working for Families Tax Credits entitlement.

You need to check that the information on this form is correct. If you need to make any changes to your family details shown on the form, you can either call us, or update your details online by using our My family details and income service.

What happens and when

The PTS and refund process

Date What happens
June and July PTS sent
Student loan end-of-year repayment calculations sent
August Request a personal tax summary under "Get it done online"
Once PTS is sent Refunds less than $200 issued automatically
Refunds more than $200 issued once you've confirmed your PTS

Find out more

Next steps

 


Date published: 05 Oct 2009

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