And what you might like to do now for your business is to make a New Financial Year Resolution….
Here is a suggestion:
Does your business plan offer you the flexibility to continue to adapt and evolve reflecting the ups and downs of your daily decisions about the operation of your business? Do you have a business plan for 2017? www.wiseplan.co.nz will guide you towards a plan that will really work for you, rather than the other way around!
Wise Plan is series of workshops to help you create an effective and convincing business plan, that evolves with your business needs over time.
Over 10 two-hour sessions, you’ll learn how to create a business plan that drives your business success. From fundamentals to financials, you’ll leave with a well laid out, thorough business plan that will impress lenders and investors. And because it’s a live business plan, you can continue to adapt and evolve it long after you’ve completed the course.
What does 2017 hold for your business?
Changes for 2017 in TAX and BUSINESS
Budget policy changes in 2016 generally come into force on 1 April 2017 and this year is no exception. The following are in place now and you may need to make some changes to the way you are doing things.
* Pay or receive scheduler payments? (Schedular payments are payments made to contractors who perform certain activities. These payments are required to have tax deducted but they’re different to salary or wage payments).
From 1 April 2017 contactors subject to the scheduler payment rules can choose their own tax rate. If you have contractors receiving scheduler payments or if a new contractor starts working for you, you will need to give them an IR330C form instead of the IR330 (Tax Code Declaration) form. This means that contractors can choose their own tax rate by using the IR330C, subject to minimums.
If you are a contractor and want to change your rate, or start a new contract, the same applies – by using the IR330C, you can change/choose your tax rate.
This change relates to those in the labour hire or recruitment and on-hire companies who pay contractors to work for clients under a labour hire arrangement as well. You need the IR330C for all contractors.
If you are using payroll software the variable tax rate should be accepted, or you can check with your software provider. If this change is going to be costly because of the complex nature of your business, the IRD will grant an extension of time for implementation if you apply to them. (See http://www.ird.govt.nz/news-updates/contractor-changes.html, for more details)
* Provisional Tax use of money interest rules
Another 1 April change has been to the UOMI rules around provisional tax for people using the standard method.
When working out the start date, the $50,000 RIT threshold for individuals and non-individuals using the standard option has been increased to $60,000.
* Monthly incremental late payment penalties
Good news – the 1% monthly incremental late payment penalty will no longer be charged on:
* GST debts for the period ending 31 March 2017 and later
* Income tax (including provisional tax) for the 2017/2018 and later income years, and
* Working for Families Tax Credits overpayments for the 2017/2018 and later income years.
* Information Sharing from 1 April 2017
Inland Revenue now have ‘information sharing’ agreements with approved credit reporting agencies that will allow them to share information relating to a company’s reportable unpaid tax, and with the Companies Office for identifying offences under the Companies Act 1993. They are permitted to do this under the Tax Administration Act of 1994.
* ACC Work Levies are decreasing
For all employers and self-employed people, ACC levies will decrease over the next two years – the cover will stay the same, the levy will go down. (For more details see www.business.govt.nz
* Minimum wage rise
From 1 April, the minimum wage has gone up from $15.25 to $15.75 per hour – here are the new rates for the types of employees you may have.
The new minimum wage rates are:
* Adult — $15.75 an hour
* Starting-out — $12.60 an hour (up from $12.20)
* Training — $12.60 an hour (up from $12.20)
* Starting-out and training minimum wages are 80% of the adult minimum wage.
Minimum wages are reviewed annually by law. It is also a legal requirement to have a written employment agreement with all your staff and this change may be a good time to renew them.
If you need help with your agreements or working out workplace policies, www.business.govt.nz has all the tools you need and their new ‘Workplace policy builder’ is a good tool for creating tailored policies for your business.
* Migrant Hire stand-down for breaking rules
From 1 April 2017 Employers who have been penalised for breaching employment standards can be barred from hiring migrant workers. Depending on how bad the breach is the stand-down period can last six months, one year, 18 months or two years. Examples of breaches include paying less than the minimum wage or other breaches of employment standards that result in a penalty.
With all these new changes and their impact on your business, it might be a great time to look at that business plan again and see if you can find a quick, simple and dynamic method for keeping track of your business goals, your business growth and your plan for success.
Register today www.wiseplan.co.nz
