Māori authority credit account (MACA): MACA overview
What is a Māori authority credit account (MACA)?
A Māori authority credit account (MACA) is a memorandum or record-keeping account for your organisation's use only. Its purpose is to keep track of how much tax a Māori authority has paid, and how many tax credits are available to pass on to the members. It has an opening balance, credit and debit entries, and a closing balance.
Your organisation will need information from the MACA in order to file a Māori authorities income tax return (IR8) or an Annual Māori authority credit account return (IR8J).
| Note | |
|---|---|
| In certain situations, we may ask to see your organisation's MACA. | |
Who has to keep a MACA?
While most Māori authorities must maintain a MACA, there are exceptions:
- a Māori authority whose rules do not allow it to distribute their income or property to any of its members, or
- a Māori authority whose entire income is not liable for income tax, unless this income consists of:
- foreign dividends derived by a New Zealand resident company or trustee of a group investment fund, or
- dividends paid before 1 April to a unit trust manager or manager of a group investment fund.
Period covered by the Māori authority credit account
A MACA covers the period from 1 April in one year to 31 March in the following year, regardless of an authority's balance date. This period is called the MACA year or imputation year. An authority with a balance date other than 31 March cannot align its MACA year with its accounting year.
What transactions are recorded in the MACA?
Opening balance
The opening balance of the MACA (which may be either a debit or credit) is the same as the closing balance of the preceding MACA year.
| Note | |
|---|---|
| All new entrants entering the Māori authority rules will have a nil opening balance. | |
Credit and debit entries
These are entries that increase or decrease the credits available for distribution to members. They are recorded in dollar amounts. Please see the pages "Credit entries" and "Debit entries" for the types of transactions that will be recorded in the MACA.
Closing balance
This will be the final balance of the account for the MACA year and will serve as the opening balance of the following year.
| Note | |
|---|---|
| The MACA may go into debit throughout the year. However, any debt balance that exists at the 31 March closing balance must be paid on or before the following 20 June. | |
Date published: 03 Apr 2006
Back to top