dfjordan

I've tried looking up the tax rules on the govt website but did't find much info. What I want to know is how taxable income is calculated, ie is it gross income less say some personal allowances? Are retirees whose only income is from investments, taxed in a different way? Is foreign investment income taxable? Isa foreign private pension taxed?
Any help would be appreciated or alternatively any links to tax sites

dfjordan

OK I've found the info I was after but it surprises me that it appears nobody else looks into their tax situation before moving?

BEVS

I expect people did look at how NZ taxation would work for them. We did.

To be fair, most all of our members are working families, so their concerns would be for income tax, family tax credit with a bit of taxation on UK house rental etc thrown in.

There are a few retirees on the board ( I can think of 2 actually) but I expect they are away with their families right now, it being summer holidays, and so you perhaps have been unlucky with who is available to read your thread.

If I had more time the past few days, I would've had a trawl around for you to see if I could help at all .

It would be lovely if you would share your findings with all of us.....me.... as this would help anyone else looking in now, or in the future.

Stormer999

http://www.ird.govt.nz/
http://www.broadbaseinternational.com/
All income will be taxable, including pensions.....professional advice would be the best way forward. Don't know where you are so can't tell you if your country has a double tax agreement with NZ.

Genesis

I guess you are right. We didn't but I just wanted to live here come what may (daft but romantic visions of life in NZ were swirling around my tiny brain)and we knew we would have enough money to start our new lives being way older than most emigrees. So if money IS an issue I guess its sound advice to know what will be on the table money wise at the end of each week. Come to think of it whilst we did some research we did way less than most others do. Not sure why..maybe to add a touch of pique to the whole proceedings or more likely because we were/are STUPID!!

Having said that it all paid off and generally the new lives we wanted were delivered albeit with the mandatory aggro every emigree seems to get along the way.

dfjordan

Hi BEVS. Thanks for replying; I understand your point of view; Problem is I'm a Chartered Accountant and as such, want to know answers to every possible point that may arise before I act!! From what I've found out,the situation seems quite simple- there's no messing around in NZ, everything is taxable!! It makes tax returns simple but life more expensive! In contrast, where I live at the moment ( Chile), pensions are totally tax free, and some other sources of income also; making life less costly. The idea running through my head is to perhaps join my daughter and husband who already live in NZ, as maybe the benefits there outweigh the extra costs. It wont be for at least a couple of years though as I have a son in university in Chile at the moment.

Genesis

My mate lived in Chile for about 8 years. He married a Chilean National they saw a better future for themselves in NZ however (he's a Kiwi). The tax sysytem is not that bad over here. My wife earns around the early $60k mark and she takes home about $51k per annum. Yes overseas income such as interest and pensions are taxed but we also get about $4k tax back each year from the 'family tax credit' system. Based on how many kids you have and the total household income. So all in all its not that onerous. Okay kiddies get charged 19.5% on their interest earned in their accounts but if they were free all the mums and dads would stick all their savings in their and evade tax..so it has its reasons for being seen as somewhat harsh on our junior members of society. I think the NZ tax system is no worse than the UK one personally. Well it seems no worse.

dfjordan

I agree with you, as one thing that's impoprtant to consider is that there are no death duties in NZ whereas in Chile they hit you hard. Also from what I understand, in NZ the health care is free , as taxes are high. In Chile it's very expensive as taxes are low. From what I've worked out so far, I think that overall, it will cost about the same to live in NZ as it does in Chile but In NZ it will be without the poverty and death duties of Chile and we wouldnt have to live in a city of 6 million to be able to enjoy the normal niceties of life.

Genesis

You have to pay for dental stuff and visits to the doctor which are evry subsidised BUT the REALLY expensive stuff is ALL on the NHS. I personally would NEVER live anywhere without a national health service. Like water and education it should be pretty much provided at minimal cost.

dfjordan

I managed to find out a little more about tax in NZ, but it's not easy as it seems the tax office doesn't like giving out specific info on its webpage. I learned that for the first 4 years after receiving resident status, all foreign source income ( except for wages) is tax free. That's a big bonus and maybe others on this website aren't already aware of it.