Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Plain Language Law homepage
FZ 7B: Valuation of group assets: insurance proceeds from North Island flooding events
or “How to value company assets after North Island floods for insurance payouts”

You could also call this:

“Rules for companies adjusting to new interest expense limits over 5 years”

This law talks about changes to rules about how much interest companies can claim as an expense. These changes affect some companies that have a lot of debt compared to their assets.

If you’re a company affected by these changes, you get a 5-year period to adjust. This period starts from the first income year beginning on or after 1 July 2018.

During this 5-year period, the new rules apply, but with some differences:

The way debt percentages are calculated will use the new method.

Your New Zealand group’s debt percentage can be up to 60% before the rules apply to you.

The ratio of your New Zealand group’s debt percentage to your worldwide group’s debt percentage can be up to 110% (or the ratio on the date the changes started, if that’s lower) before the rules apply to you.

You can choose when these changes start for you. It can be either when the law was introduced, or the last time you measured your debt before the law was introduced.

These rules are meant to help companies that might be affected by the changes to have time to adjust their finances.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.


Next up: FZ 9: Transfers of trading stock to non-associates, donee organisations, or public authorities

or “ Rules for giving trading stock to certain groups (no longer in effect) ”

Part F Recharacterisation of certain transactions
Terminating provisions

FZ 8Transition period for amendments to interest apportionment rules

  1. This section gives the effect, for an excess debt entity meeting the requirements of subsection (2), of the amendments (the affected amendments) to section FE 5 (Thresholds for application of interest apportionment rules) made by section 20(1), (2), and (6) of the Taxation (Neutralising Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Act 2018 and to section FE 6 (Apportionment of interest by excess debt entity) made by section 21(5) and (6) of that Act.

  2. An excess debt entity meets the requirements of this subsection if, using the method of calculating debt percentages as amended by the provisions referred to in subsection (1),—

  3. the excess debt entity is a company described in section FE 2(1)(cb) (When this subpart applies) or is controlled by a group of persons that act in concert and are each described in section FE 2(a) to (db); and
    1. the debt percentage of the excess debt entity’s New Zealand group is greater than 60% on the date given by subsection (5) (the transition date); and
      1. the debt percentage of the excess debt entity’s New Zealand group on the transition date is greater than 100% of the debt percentage of the excess debt entity’s worldwide group on the transition date.
        1. For an excess debt entity meeting the requirements of subsection (2), the affected amendments apply as varied by subsection (4) for a period of 5 income years (the transition period) consisting of the first income year beginning on or after 1 July 2018 and the 4 following income years.

        2. For the period from the transition date to the end of the transition period, in determining whether the excess debt entity is required to apportion its interest expenditure under subpart FE (Interest apportionment on thin capitalisation) and in determining the apportionment of the excess debt entity’s interest expenditure under section FE 6,—

        3. the method of calculating debt percentages is applied as amended; and
          1. the threshold value for the debt percentage of the excess debt entity’s New Zealand group for the income year is 60%; and
            1. the threshold value for the ratio of the debt percentage of the excess debt entity’s New Zealand group for the income year to the debt percentage of the excess debt entity’s worldwide group is the lesser of 110% and the corresponding ratio calculated for the transition date.
              1. For the purposes of this section, the transition date is whichever the excess debt entity elects, in a return of income for the first income year beginning on or after 1 July 2018, of—

              2. the date (the introduction date) on which the Taxation (Neutralising Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Bill is introduced:
                1. the date that is the last measurement date under section FE 8 (Measurement dates) preceding the introduction date.
                  Notes
                  • Section FZ 8: inserted, on , by section 36 of the Taxation (Neutralising Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) Act 2018 (2018 No 16).