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Income Tax Act 2007

Recharacterisation of certain transactions - Tax relief for emergencies - Optional rule for valuation of group assets

FP 22: Accommodation expenditure incurred during emergency events

You could also call this:

"Help with accommodation costs during emergency events"

When you work on a project to rebuild or recover an area affected by an emergency event, you might have to stay somewhere else. If your job requires you to work on this project, and you have to stay in a different place because of the emergency event, there are some rules that apply. You can find these rules in section CW 16B.

If your employer pays for your accommodation or gives you money for it, you do not have to pay tax on that money. This is because the money your employer gives you for accommodation is exempt from tax under section CW 16B. This means you get to keep all the money your employer gives you for accommodation.

There is a rule that says a project can only last for a certain amount of time, which is usually 3 years. But if you start working on the project during an emergency event, this time limit can be longer - up to 5 years. This longer time limit also applies to some other rules, like the ones in section CW 16C(2).

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1432220.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
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"Help from your employer during an emergency is not a fringe benefit if it meets certain rules."

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Part FRecharacterisation of certain transactions
Tax relief for emergencies: Optional rule for valuation of group assets

FP 22Accommodation expenditure incurred during emergency events

  1. This section applies for the purposes of section CW 16B (Accommodation expenditure: out-of-town secondments and projects) when—

  2. the employment duties of an employee require them to work on a project of limited duration for rebuilding or recovery, including the repair and reconstruction of land, infrastructure, and other property in an area affected by an emergency event; and
    1. the distant workplace is a workplace in an area affected by the emergency event.

      1. The value provided or expenditure incurred by the employer of the employee for or in relation to the accommodation is exempt income of the employee under section CW 16B as modified by this section.

      2. For the purposes of this section, paragraph (c)(iii) of the definition of project of limited duration and section CW 16C(2) (Time periods for certain accommodation expenditure) are modified by replacing the words “3 years” with the words “5 years” wherever they appear if the employee starts work at the distant workplace in the emergency event period.

      Notes
      • Section FP 22: inserted, on , by section 65 of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024–25, Emergency Response, and Remedial Measures) Act 2025 (2025 No 9).