TRUST SOLUTIONS

A Family Trust provides a valuable way of protecting the assets you have accumulated for the benefit of your children and other family members.

 Its useful to:

  • Protect selected assets against claims and creditors – for example, to protect a family home from the potential failure of a business venture.

  • Set aside money for special reasons, such as a child or grandchild’s education.

  • Ensure our children, not their partners, keep their inheritances.

  • Manage the risk of unwanted claims on our estate when you die – such as from a former partner.

Our expertise and affiliations can  advice on trust formation to ensure all statutory requirements are met.  We can assist you with:

  • Trust Formation

  • Trust Administration 

  • Annual Accounts

  • Investments Monitoring

  • Income Distributions 

  • Minute-keeping service

NEW BUSINESS

There are various things to consider when your business is new or expanding. If it’s not structured correctly, it can be very messy and costly. We can guide you with a structured approach to achieve whats best for you whether it be a Company, Partnership or Sole Trader situation.

  We offer:

  • General Advice on forming a Company

  • New Company Formations

  • Filing Annual Returns

  • Preparing all documentation related to minutes and resolutions

  • Maintaining statutory registers

  • Assistance with changes of Directors, Shareholders, Addresses and Registered Office Details

  • Share Transfers

  • Registered Office Facility

  • Assisting with buying or selling existing businesses.

  • Creation of a unique structure for your business, be it a partnership or sole trader situation.

BUSINESS PURCHASES, SALES AND DUE DILIGENCE

Obtaining professional advice when buying or selling a business is essential to ensure that the process will happen smoothly and at the right price. Our experienced team can assist you to make the right decisions for you and your business.

Due diligence will normally involve engaging (accountants, lawyers and banks) to investigate financial reports, employment contracts, supply agreements, leases and other information to determine an appropriate purchase price.

We can also advise on the best structures and breakdown of sale and purchase agreements for taxation purposes.

We can guide you to determine the best selling price and terms. We can also prepare projected budgets and cash flow statements to assist with a sale.

CYYPTOCURRENCY ACCOUNTING

Accounting for Cryptocurrency is complex and due to the fact that’s its just making its mark in the world, not all accountants know how to account for loss/gain for tax purposes, whether realised or unrealised. We have an inhouse expert who specialises in this and has extensive knowledge on how it all works to paying tax.

Cryptocurrency is a form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. Many companies have issued their own currencies, often called tokens, and these can be traded specifically for the good or service that the company provides. Think of them as you would arcade tokens or casino chips. You’ll need to exchange real currency for the cryptocurrency to access the good or service.

Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called blockchain. Blockchain is a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manages and records transactions. Part of the appeal of this technology is its security.

You are deemed to be in business if you are a trader based on factors such as:

  • Frequency/volume of transactions

  • Time and effort expended

  • Whether a systematic approach is applied

  • Amounts invested/traded

You may not be in business but may be in a profit-making scheme, being:

  • There is a present plan of action

  • That plan of action is to make profit

IRD STANCE

IRD Standard record-keeping rules apply, and you must keep records for 7 years. Mobile/wallet exchanges should allow you to export records to commonly used file formats. You should also keep bank statements and wallet addresses for verification.

Please note that the IRD have been active in this space, requesting details from crypto exchanges (customer/trading info). NZ has data exchange agreements with 120 countries. 

The IRD looks at your purpose at the time you acquire your crypto assets. It does not matter if your intentions change at some other point in time.

You may be taxed on disposal of crypto assets depending on your initial purpose/intention at the time of purchase. Your purpose will also be determined by certain circumstances:

  • Nature of the asset

  • Circumstances of the purchase

  • Number of similar transactions

  • Length of time the asset is held

  • Circumstances of use and disposal of the asset

GST and TAX

A disposal of crypto assets occurs when the crypto is sold or swapped. A swap is defined as the disposal of one crypto asset and instantly acquiring another crypto asset. A transfer between your own wallets does not constitute a disposal.

Assuming you purchased the assets with an intention of future disposal, you are taxed on the difference between the amount you sold the crypto assets for and the original cost you bought it for, overall being the net gain or loss that you make on that asset. If your original cost is greater than what you sell it for, you may be entitled to a tax refund.

In the case of standard crypto assets, you will not have any tax obligations as you are only taxed on realized gains. You may have tax to pay if you dispose of these crypto assets in the future.

In From a GST perspective, cryptocurrency is treated as currency so excluded from GST. Services related to crypto assets such as mining, providing exchange services, providing advice, computer services will remain subject to GST.