When you get your income tax assessment, you may have a tax bill or be due a refund.
Why you might get an income tax bill
You might get a tax bill because:
- your income changed during the year
- some of your income was not taxed correctly, for example you used the wrong tax code, an incorrect resident withholding tax rate for interest, or your prescribed investor rate (PIR) was too low for your KiwiSaver or other portfolio investment entity income
- your tax rate or PIR for your investments changed partway through the year
- you had employer share scheme income that did not have tax deducted
- you got the independent earner tax credit during the year but your total income was over the threshold
- your income increased after tax thresholds changed during the tax year
- your schedular payment tax rate was too low.
There are other, less common reasons you might have a bill. If you’re not sure why you have a bill, send us a message in myIR.
If you have tax to pay
Most people need to pay their tax by 7 February the year after receiving a bill. For example, a tax bill for the 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 tax year is due on 7 February 2026.
If you have a tax agent and have received an extension of time, you have until 7 April to pay.
There are a range of payment options available to you, including instalment arrangements so you can pay it off over time if necessary.
You'll have to start paying provisional tax if your tax to pay is more than $5,000.
Learn more about provisional tax and what this means for you.
If you're due a refund
We pay refunds into the bank account we have on file for you when we process your income tax assessment, so not everyone will get theirs at the same time.
We'll let you know if we don’t have your bank account details. You can check and update your bank account details at any time.
Each bank has their own process to get the payment to your account. You should have the money in your account within a few days. If there’s an issue with the payment or with your account, the money will bounce back to us. If we have an updated bank account for you, we’ll try that account. If not, we’ll let you know we need one.
Update my bank account details
If you already have debt with us
Some or all of your refund may be used to pay any debt you have with us. We'll let you know in a separate letter if this happens.
Working for Families refunds and tax bills
If you or your partner have an income tax or Working for Families refund due and there is a bill to pay in either income tax or Working for Families, we'll use part or all of the refund to pay the bill.
Here are the main reasons you may have a Working for Families bill.
- You and/or your partner underestimated your income.
- There was a change of circumstances for the family, for example, children left care or you and your partner separated, and you did not tell us straight away.
Get your refund faster
Keeping your details up to date means you’ll get your income tax information faster, and we'll pay any refund owing straight away. Check in myIR that your email address, postal address and bank account information are up to date.
Update your email address
Update your postal address
Update your bank account details