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Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

Returns and payment of tax

15B: Taxable periods aligned with balance dates

You could also call this:

"Your tax payment times must match your end-of-year accounting date."

Illustration for Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

When you have a provisional tax liability, your taxable period must be either 2 months or 6 months. You must align your taxable period with your balance date, which is the date you finish your accounts for the year. This is according to section 33 or 38 of the Tax Administration Act 1994.

If your balance date changes during the year, you use the old payment frequency before the new balance date. After the new balance date, you start a new cycle of taxable periods from the start of the new income year. The Commissioner can adjust your taxable periods if they are not aligned with your balance date.

Your balance date is usually the date you finish your accounts for the year, but it can be 31 March if you do not have to provide a return of income. If you are a non-resident company without a fixed establishment in New Zealand, your balance date is also 31 March. The Commissioner can make adjustments to your taxable periods if your income tax liability shows you will have a provisional tax liability, or if you ask for the adjustment.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM83418.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
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15AB: Transitional provision: alignment of taxable periods with balance dates, or

"Aligning tax periods with business end dates"

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15C: Changes in taxable periods, or

"Changing the time frame for filing tax returns"

Part 3Returns and payment of tax

15BTaxable periods aligned with balance dates

  1. Unless section 15(3) or (4) applies, a person with a provisional tax liability must have a taxable period that is either a 2-month period or a 6-month period.

  2. A person must have a taxable period that is aligned with the person's balance date under section 33 or 38 of the Tax Administration Act 1994, reflecting the applicable payment dates in Schedule 3, Part A of the Income Tax Act 2007.

  3. For the purposes of subsection (2), a person whose balance date changes during an income year must,—

  4. before the new balance date, use the payment frequency applying at the start of the income year:
    1. after the new balance date, use the cycle of taxable periods starting on the first day of the new income year.

      1. If a person’s cycle of taxable periods is not aligned with the person's balance date and the person has a provisional tax liability for a tax year, the Commissioner must adjust the person's taxable periods by truncating the last taxable period before the balance date so that the taxable period and income year end on the same date.

      2. For the purposes of subsection (4), a person’s cycle of taxable periods is aligned with their balance date if the person’s last taxable period before the balance date ends on a date approved by the Commissioner under section 15EB(2).

      3. The Commissioner may make the adjustment in subsection (4) if—

      4. the person's income tax liability indicates that a provisional tax liability is likely to arise:
        1. the person asks for the adjustment.

          1. In this section, balance date, for a registered person mean,—

          2. if neither of paragraphs (b) and (c) applies, the person's annual balance date for their accounts for the income year corresponding to the tax year for which the person must provide a return of income under the Tax Administration Act 1994:
            1. if the person has an income year that coincides with the tax year or is not required to provide a return of income for the tax year, 31 March:
              1. if the person is a non-resident company that does not have a fixed establishment in New Zealand, 31 March.

                Notes
                • Section 15B: inserted, on , by section 291(1) of the Taxation (Depreciation, Payment Dates Alignment, FBT, and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (2006 No 3).
                • Section 15B(2): amended, on (effective for 2008–09 income year and later income years, except when the context requires otherwise), by section ZA 2(1) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (2007 No 97).
                • Section 15B(4): amended (with effect on 30 March 2022), on , by section 211(1) of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024–25, Emergency Response, and Remedial Measures) Act 2025 (2025 No 9).
                • Section 15B(4B): replaced (with effect on 30 March 2022), on , by section 211(2) of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2024–25, Emergency Response, and Remedial Measures) Act 2025 (2025 No 9).