Bay of Plenty Workers Owed Millions in Tax Refunds

NZ Tax Refunds

Media Release: 18 November 2009

Bay of Plenty region workers are owed an estimated $37.76million in unclaimed tax refunds – money which will be retained permanently by the IRD if not claimed within five years.

NZ Tax Refunds Managing Director Cilla Hegarty says it only takes a few minutes to for people to register online at www.nztaxrefunds.co.nz and check whether they are due a tax refund. NZ Tax Refunds guarantees a 10-day payout (or no fee) for standard clients eligible for a tax refund.

“The Bay of Plenty region has a workforce of around 124,000 people – that’s on average just over $300 per person waiting to be claimed in tax refunds,” says Cilla Hegarty.

NZ Tax Refunds is also recommending people who have recently joined the ranks of the unemployed to check for a tax credit if they have been made redundant.

“The Bay of Plenty region unfortunately recorded a 0.3 per cent jump in unemployment in the June quarter to 5.8 per cent, or around 7,000 who were unemployed.

“It is important for anyone who has been made redundant to check whether they are eligible for a tax credit, as this is often the last thing they think of.

“Many people who have been made redundant in the past few months are probably due a tax credit now - they don’t have to wait until the end of the financial year.

“As soon as a person is made redundant there is a government incentive to apply for tax credits up to the value of $3,600.

“If an employee has received redundancy payments they could have been taxed at almost 40%.”

NZ Tax Refunds has this year processed an increasing number of tax credits for people made redundant as firms cut back on staff numbers and rationalise

“One client who had worked in the finance sector for many years was eligible for a redundancy tax credit of around $3500. Another who was made redundant from a government department received around $2000 in redundancy credits.”

NZ Tax Refunds, New Zealand’s specialist online tax refund company, provides a no-risk service for clients. Its system assesses whether an individual is eligible for a tax refund and if so the company applies on their behalf and charges a modest fee up to 19.5 per cent of the refund.

ENDS

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