Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

CW 6: Payments of interest: farm mortgages
or “Tax exemption rules for interest on some farm mortgages”

You could also call this:

“Tax exemption for overseas interest income for non-residents”

If you earn interest from a country outside New Zealand, you might not have to pay tax on it. This applies if two things are true:

You weren’t living in New Zealand when the interest was being paid to you.
The country where the interest came from doesn’t make you pay tax on it either. The tax in that country needs to be very similar to New Zealand’s income tax.

If both of these things are true, then you don’t have to include this interest as part of your taxable income in New Zealand.

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Next up: CW 8: Money lent to government of New Zealand

or “Overseas lenders may not pay tax on interest from loans to NZ government”

Interest that a person derives from a country or territory outside New Zealand is exempt income if—
the person was not resident in New Zealand during the period for which the interest was payable; and
the interest was exempt under the laws of the overseas country or territory from a tax that is substantially the same as income tax imposed under this Act.

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