Inland Revenue’s customer services will be unavailable for just over four days this week as it rolls out the next stage of its programme to transform the tax system.
myIR will be switched off from Thursday afternoon at 3pm until Tuesday 17 April at 8am so the latest round of changes can be made.
Inland Revenue contact centres and front of house services will also be closed but customers will still be able to pay accounts using online banking as usual.
Deputy Commissioner Transformation Greg James says the timing for the shutdown has been carefully selected after working with a number of heavy users of myIR to find the most convenient time.
“Moving these tax types and the associated data over to our new computer system is no small task so we’re taking the system offline to allow a smooth transition.”
ir-File, used by businesses to submit Employer Monthly Schedules will be unavailable from midnight on Wednesday.
New services coming for myIR
Business customers will notice the biggest changes when they log in on Tuesday with the introduction of a new `My Business’ section in myIR. It will include the ability to file, pay and amend GST as well as fringe benefit tax and gaming machine duty.
A new provisional tax option has also been introduced this month. It’s called AIM or the Accounting Income Method and ensures small businesses will only have to pay provisional tax when they are making a profit. “We are building up a set of products that are all designed to make tax simpler,” says Mr James. “AIM will be a cash flow game changer while the new `My Business’ section brings more tax types online and all in the one place.”
Almost 14,000 people have attended either online presentations or a series of seminars around the country to preview the improvements.
Extra seminars were put on in some places just to meet the demand of customers and tax agents wanting to know how the changes will affect them.
“There has been a series of dress rehearsals in recent weeks to prepare for the migration of data on to the new system and over the last year every aspect of `My Business’ has been heavily user tested to ensure customers have the best possible experience when they log back in on April 17,” Mr James says.
Find out more about the changes for businesses at www.ird.govt.nz/mybusiness
Media contact: Baden Campbell 029 890 1674