Over $3m in refunds ready to be claimed

Over $3m in refunds ready to be claimed

Thousands more New Zealanders could be due a tax refund this year – although they may find their claim a little harder to work out.

A new Independent Earner Tax Credit (IETC) was introduced last year, and Lester Binns, from online tax refund agency MyTax.co.nz, says this and other tax changes will have a big impact on the number of refunds owed this year.

“It’s going to be a fantastic refund year - much better than last year,“ Lester says. “From the pre-assessments we’ve done, there’s already over $3million in refunds ready to go.”

MyTax.co.nz checks through five years of tax payments at no upfront charge to clients, uncovering an average refund of five to seven hundred dollars, with the top payment to a single client going as high as $40,000.

Mr Binns says most people are over-taxed rather than under-taxed, and working out a tax return is relatively hard for a novice. Any money owed to salary and wage earners sits with IRD and after five years, if it is not refunded, the government reclaims it.

“Our tax agents are intensively trained, as there are so many components to work through, yet the IRD expects people to be able to do it themselves,“ he says. “Getting MyTax.co.nz to work it out for you takes out the risk and hassle, also protects you from having to pay tax if you do owe anything.”

Half the tax paying population now uses a tax refund company and around 75% of people receive a refund, although Mr Binns is expecting this to be much higher this year.

MyTax.co.nz is one of the leading online tax refund businesses. It is 100% New Zealand owned and runs the mytax.co.nz refund service out of Nelson, employing 26 staff.

ENDS

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