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DB 56: Expenditure incurred in operating motor vehicle under agreement or arrangement affected by section CX 7
or “Claiming expenses for a vehicle someone else has the right to use”
You could also call this:

“Payments to partners can't be deducted unless for services or approved”

You can’t claim a deduction for money you give to your spouse, civil union partner, or de facto partner unless it’s for services they provided. This rule applies unless you get special approval from the Commissioner of Inland Revenue.

The Commissioner might approve your deduction, but only if three things are true:

  1. The Commissioner believes the payment is real and not made up.
  2. You made the payment only to earn income that can be taxed.
  3. You got approval before you tried to claim the deduction.

This rule is very strict and overrides the usual permission for deductions.

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Next up: DB 57B: Matching of deductions and income from multi-jurisdictional arrangements

or “Rules for claiming deductions in multi-country arrangements”
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Part D Deductions
Specific rules for expenditure types

DB 57Payments to spouses, civil union partners, or de facto partners other than for services

  1. A person is denied a deduction for a payment to their spouse, civil union partner, or de facto partner for something other than services, without the Commissioner’s approval.

  2. The Commissioner may approve the deduction only if—

  3. the Commissioner considers that the payment is genuine; and
    1. the payment is incurred by the person exclusively in deriving their assessable income; and
      1. the approval is granted before the deduction is claimed.

        1. This section overrides the general permission.

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