Reporting your overseas income

If you get income from overseas while you’re a New Zealand tax resident, you must report it.

Completing the Overseas income summary 

From the 2023 tax year on, you must file an Overseas income summary – IR1261 form. You can fill it out in myIR, through your software provider or download it at the bottom of this page.

You need to tell us:

• the type of income you earned.
• the amount of each income type earned.
• the overseas jurisdiction you earned the income in.
• the amount of foreign tax credit claimed.

Make sure you label supporting documents. You can send them as an attachment to the return or as a web message in myIR.

Complete my individual income tax return - IR3

Overseas currency conversion to NZ dollars

Including different types of income

You need to report all overseas income, from all sources, broken down by income type, and jurisdiction (the country or territory you earned the income in).

Income tax for partnerships

Look through companies

Trusts and estates

Expenses and tax credits

You only need to report the total income less expenses.

You must report any overseas tax credits you earn on income. For each type of income and jurisdiction provide the amount of tax credits being claimed. If you are getting tax credits from more than 1 source on a single type of income, you can give us details in a supporting document.

For help calculating foreign tax credits, see interpretation statement IS 21/09 on our tax technical website.

IS 21/09: Income tax - how to calculate a foreign tax credit

Foreign investment fund income

When you file your return, you can break down foreign investment fund (FIF) income by jurisdiction, or you can include all FIF income under the jurisdiction ‘overseas’. If you are filing with software that does not include ‘overseas’ as an option, you can use ‘XX’ or unknown jurisdiction.

If a FIF is resident in 1 jurisdiction, but taxes have been withheld from dividends in another jurisdiction you must report where the FIF is resident.

If income from more than 1 FIF is included in an amount, you must supply a supporting report, or workings with a breakdown of the income and tax credit amount per FIF. Reports provided by your investment advisor are acceptable.

If you make a total loss from FIFs that is reduced to zero, include zero for FIFs under the ‘overseas’ jurisdiction.

You must also supply a supporting report, with a break down of the FIF loss that has been reduced to zero by FIF.

Dividends treated as interest

Dividends from foreign companies are sometimes reported as “dividends treated as interest”. If a FIF rules exemption applies, you must include these dividends in overseas income. If no FIF rules exemption applies, you must include the FIF income from these investments in overseas income.

For more information, read Question 17 in the Individual tax return guide - IR3G.

Commercial rental property

Report income from commercial rental property in the jurisdiction that the property is in, even if you earn income from it in another jurisdiction.

Residential rental property

Do not include your overseas residential rental income in the ‘Total overseas income’ box of your return or in your Overseas income summary - IR1261. You must add it to the ‘Residential income’ section in your Income tax return – IR3.

However, you must report any foreign tax credits you claim on residential rental income in the total overseas tax paid box. Also include them in your Overseas income summary as ‘rental’ income type for the relevant jurisdiction

To help us process you return faster, you can include a supporting note breaking down the income, expenditure, and tax credits.

Providing supporting information

You can provide any supporting information as an attachment to a return or as an attachment to a web message.