Refunds and tax bills

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, or your prescribed investor rate (PIR) was too low for your KiwiSaver or other portfolio investment entity (PIE) income
• your tax rate or PIR for your investments changed partway through the year
• you had employer share scheme (ESS) income that did not have tax deducted
• you got the independent earner tax credit (IETC) during the year but your total income was more than $48,000.

There are other, less common reasons you might have a bill. Some employers made an error in interpreting the Holidays Act, paying one-off extra holiday pay to current or previous employees. If this extra pay was not taxed at the correct rate, you may have a bill. If you’re still 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 2022 to 31 March 2023 tax year is due on 7 February 2024.

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 plans so you can pay it off over time if necessary.

Make a payment

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.

Provisional tax

If you're due a refund

We pay refunds when we process income tax assessments, so not everyone will get theirs at the same time.

We'll pay your refund into the bank account you have given us. We'll let you know if we need your bank account details. If you have given us these details, you can check they're up to date or change them.

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