← Guides / New Zealand

Record Keeping Guide — Business and Tax Records Requirements in NZ

the record-keeping requirements for the tax purposes in New Zealand. The guide covers the types of the records required (the invoices, the receipts, the bank statements, the contracts), the retention period (7 years), the electronic record-keeping, and the penalties for the record-keeping failures.

Record Keeping Requirements

The taxpayers in New Zealand must keep the sufficient records to calculate the tax liability. The required records include: (a) the income records — the invoices issued, the sales receipts, the bank deposit records, the cash register tapes, the contracts, (b) the expense records — the purchase invoices, the receipts, the credit card statements, the contracts, the lease agreements, (c) the employment records — the wage records, the time sheets, the employment agreements, the KiwiSaver records, (d) the asset records — the purchase and the sale records for the capital assets, the depreciation schedules, and (e) the bank records — the bank statements, the cheque butts, the deposit books.

Retention Periods

The records must be kept for the period of 7 years after the end of the tax year to which they relate (the "7-year rule"). The exceptions include: (a) the land transactions — the records for the land purchases and the sales must be kept for the 10 years after the disposal, (b) the company records — the company records (the "company register, the directors' meetings") must be kept for the 7 years after the company is dissolved, and (c) the fringe benefit records — the 7 years from the FBT return date. The electronic records (the "scanned, the digital") are acceptable if they are the accurate copies of the original documents and can be retrieved in the readable format.