Office Hours

We are closing the office at 3pm Wednesday 23 December and reopening on Monday 11 January. There will be skeleton staff available to attend to urgent matters from Monday 5 January.

newsletter

Christmas 2015

In this issue:

The year in review
Health & Safety heads up
C hange in property law
Upcoming tax dates
Introducing Sharon Holland
Employers' guide to holidays
Christmas at McKenzie & Co

The year in review

For many of our clients 2015 has been a tough year. A combination of low commodity prices, dry weather and general uncertainty has raised the stress levels and placed pressure on family and business relationships.

From our perspective, it has also been very challenging, we work closely with you as clients and we celebrate with you in the good times and feel your pain when life is not so good.

Nevertheless, the Waitaki is a great place to live and work. We are all fortunate to have available the resources this district has to offer.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Fraser and the team.

Health & Safety heads up

The new Health and Safety at Work Act takes effect on 4 April 2016. This replaces the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.

Recent incidents in the district have raised awareness of Health & Safety changes. A number of clients have been considering radical structural changes to their business governance as a reaction to what they perceive to be a risk.

To help clarify your position, we will be providing a more comprehensive summary of what you should be doing in regards to Health & Safety in early 2016.

A change in property law... have you purchased property since 30 September 2015?

The bright-line property rule applies to residential property purchased on or after 1 October 2015.

What's changed?

The new rule requires people who sell residential property within two years of purchasing it to pay income tax on the sale, unless:

it's their main home
they inherited the property
they receive a property as part of a relationship settlement.

All existing property tax rules, for example the intention test, still apply. The bright-line rule only applies to residential property. Business premises and farmland are not subject to this rule.

If you would like further information please arrange a time to come in to discuss. Inland Revenue has also created a webpage for people who buy, sell or transfer property. It covers all property changes that apply from 1 October 2015.

www.ird.govt.nz/propertychanges

Upcoming Tax Dates

January to May is a tough time for many small businesses. On top of seasonal cash flow issues, timing of tax payments can place further strain on your cash flow.

If your cash flow is under pressure and you are struggling to make tax payments on time, call Kay or Andrea in our office before the due date of any payments. To minimise any penalties an arrangement needs to be in place with Inland Revenue prior to the due date.

Introducing Sharon Holland

Some of you will have already met Sharon as she returned to Oamaru this year after eight years in South Canterbury. Sharon started her accounting career at the tender age of 17 and gained a Bachelor of Accountancy as an adult student at Massey University whilst raising two young children. She is an Associate Chartered Accountant specialising in farm accounting.

With her children now grown up and away from home, Sharon and her husband enjoy life in the country and are currently decorating their home on a lifestyle block in Weston.

You can email Sharon at sharon@mckenzieca.co.nz

December 2015

Getting it right for your employees over the Holidays

Since farms don’t shut down over Christmas, it is likely that many of you will have staff working on one or more of the four public holidays coming up over Christmas and New Year. It’s important to make sure employees are getting what they are entitled to if they work for all or part of those public holidays.

If you have employees working on the public holiday the first thing is to determine whether the public holiday is an ordinary working day. Usually this is a relatively straight forward exercise, in that most cases you can simply extend your roster out for December/January to see whether they would be rostered on to work that day, and whether it would be considered an ordinary working day.

Depending on the situation, employees have certain entitlements. This is a quick summary.

The public holidays over the Christmas/New Year period are observed on the actual day when they fall on a weekday.

To read more, click here

Christmas at McKenzie & Co

As we HO HO HO into another December it is hard to believe it is Christmas time again already. We have had a busy year which has included welcoming several new staff members and shifting office twice. We are counting down to the holiday break although there is still a list of jobs to be completed before the office closes on the 23^rd.

To help boost morale for December Fraser employed Alvin for the month. He came from the far North and specialises in deer farming. Fraser thinks he hit the jackpot with this employee – he hasn't been late for work, has stayed at his designated work area and hasn't answered back. He has been fun to have around and we hope you have had a chance to come in and meet him. We all wish you a Merry Christmas and safe and happy silly season.

Angela Slemint
Chief Elf & Accountant

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