Income from salary, wages, benefits or taxable pensions

Your income details are sent to us monthly, by your employer or payer.

Income from interest and dividends and taxable Maori authority distributions

Your bank statement or interest certificate will show the amount of interest you received, and your Maori authority distribution statement will show the amount of taxable distributions received.

Total gross income

This is your income from salary, wages, benefits or taxable pensions, plus your income from interest, dividends and Maori authority distributions.  Your gross income is your income before tax has been deducted from it.

Expenses claimed

You can claim the following expenses on your personal tax summary:

• 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 taxable income
• premiums on loss of earnings insurance, provided the benefit from the insurance policy is taxable income.

Taxable income

Your expenses are subtracted from your total gross income, to make your taxable income.

Tax on taxable income

We calculate how much tax should have been paid on your taxable income.  These are the current tax rates:

• Income up to $38,000 is taxed at 19.5%
• Income from $38,001 - $60,000 is taxed at 33%
• Income over $60,000 is taxed at 39%

Tax credits (formerly rebates)

A tax credit is a reduction in the amount of tax you need to pay.  We automatically calculate the income under $38,000 tax credit if you're eligible, but you need to let us know if you're eligible for any other tax credits.

Tax on taxable income after tax credits

This is your tax credits subtracted from your tax on taxable income.

Total tax paid

This is the tax you paid on your income (given to us by your employer or payer), plus the tax you paid on your interest, dividends or taxable Maori authority distributions.

Tax to pay / Total amount of tax refund

This is the difference between your tax on taxable income after tax credits, and your total tax paid.

• If your total tax paid is bigger, then you'll have a tax refund.
• If your total tax paid is smaller, then you'll have tax to pay

Working for Families Tax Credits (formerly family assistance) underpayment / overpayment

If you have applied for Working for Families Tax Credits, this shows if you've been underpaid and have a credit, or if you've been overpaid and need to pay some back.

it must be paid by or postmarked on:

• 7 February if you don't have a tax agent,
• 7 April if you have a tax agent and an extension of time.

The due date will show on your PTS.

Note: If you owe less than $20, it will be written off. You don't need to do anything.

we'll pay it within 15 days of sending your PTS to you.

you need to confirm your PTS by calling us on 0800 227 774. See "Find out more" below.