The tax year is from 1 April to 31 March. After the end of the tax year, we work out if you either:
- paid the right amount of tax
- have a refund
- have more tax to pay.
To do this, we use the information we have about your income and tax types. We'll know about any taxed income you received during the year, such as salary or wages.
My income is taxed before I get paid
What you'll need to provide are amounts and sources of untaxed income like:
- self-employment
- overseas
- rental property including Airbnb and Bookabach
- 'under the table' cash jobs
- an estate, trust or partnership.
My income is not taxed before I get paid
Reasons for completing an individual tax return - IR3
Some of the common reasons we ask customers to complete an individual tax return (IR3) are because they:
- received untaxed income in the previous tax year
- received income as a shareholder in a company, or as a beneficiary of a trust in the previous tax year
- received interest or dividends from a partnership, look-through company, trust or estate
- have overdue tax returns
- are registered for GST - unless they're an IR56 taxpayer
- are registered as an employer - unless they're an IR56 taxpayer, or their only employee is a nanny or private domestic worker, or they got individualised funding for payments to a disabled person or Ministry of Health funded family care
- use the Accounting Income Method (AIM) to work out their provisional tax
- have a non-standard balance date.
If any of these situations apply to you, you'll need to give us more information by filing an IR3.
Complete my individual income tax return - IR3
If none of these apply to you, or you do not think you need to complete an IR3, contact us to discuss your situation.
Changing income types
You need to let us know when you've got a new type of income or when you've stopped getting an existing type.
The easiest way to do this is through myIR but you can also call us.
I've told you about changes to my income types. Do I still need to complete an IR3?
Yes. Even if you stop getting an income type during the tax year you still need to complete an IR3 at the end of that tax year.
For example, if you were earning self-employed income and decided part way through the year to work for a company and receive regular salary or wage income, we'll still need you to file an IR3 to ensure you've declared all your income from when you were self-employed.