The Government is consulting on changes to the way businesses and taxpayers deal with Inland Revenue. Proposed changes would make it easier for businesses to manage their tax obligations online and reduce compliance costs.

The Government is seeking New Zealanders’ opinions of the proposals before any changes are made. Feedback is invited through a public online forum and formal discussion document.

Proposed changes would mean simpler PAYE and tax returns, better online services provided by Inland Revenue, less re-work, and reduced business compliance costs. New payroll software would take care of routine PAYE compliance tasks, and tax information could be sent directly between Inland Revenue systems and business payroll software, at times that suit business.

The consultation includes proposals to share information with other government departments, to make it easier for employers and their staff where people are swapping employment, going on parental leave or managing child support.

Strategic partnerships between software developers and Inland Revenue are also proposed, to support software developers to develop and improve tax-related software products for their clients.

You can influence how tax processes might work in the future by visiting www.makingtaxeasier.ird.govt.nz and commenting on the proposals. Videos and stories on the site show differences between dealing with Inland Revenue now and what the future could hold.

The forum will remain open until 23 July 2010.

“As a business that floats or sinks depending on how efficiently we run our back office systems, specifically our payroll, BoatBoys needed to ensure it was running the fastest and easiest payroll system in order to cope with the quantity of casual employees we have on our books.

 After starting with ACE Payroll, we discovered that SmartPayroll not only did everything ACE could do in a simpler, cleaner manner online, but that all the banking to staff and our PAYE obligations of filing and payment were taken care of automatically…so we no longer need to even think about it! 
Hayes Knight really deliver on their promise of ‘Accounting beyond the numbers’ by suggesting this great new technology to their clients – it was a breath of fresh air for us.”

Mike Vitali – Founder, Director
and Hayes Knight client

Deductions

Deductions have been modified to enable bank accounts to be loaded. This means that any deduction can be paid directly into a bank account without using up a normal bank account area.  Follow these instructions to set up a deduction with a bank account:

1.   Go to the Company Maintenance area
2.   Select Company Rules from the Links pane
3.   Click NEW to add a new deduction
4.   Ensure the Fixed Dollar Amount and Direct Credit checkboxes are selected. 
5.   Save the details.
6.   Next, select EMP Contract Groups in the Links Pane and ensure the deduction is activated for the correct employee group.
7.   Enter relevant details here if the deduction is for all staff, or go to an employee’s own Employee Payments screen to personalise this deduction and enter the bank account the deduction amount will be sent to.
8.   Remember to save the details at the bottom of the screen.

If you have any queries about the new deduction options, please call the Helpdesk for support: 0800 10 10 38.

Smartpayroll is now running payroll courses though The Business Centre in Wellington.  The courses are free and will run on 19 October and 19 November. These courses are for anyone who has to or is looking to manage employee entitlements and payroll processing.   At the end of this course you will know how to run a payroll in 5 minutes and, even better, sleep easy knowing your IRD obligations have been met.

The story about Datacom below is a clear illustration that if a company is customer focused, then the external market conditions will not stand in the way of a great performance. We are delighted that our business partner and shareholder has had another great year. The lesson that we take from their excellent showing in today’s challenging market is the need to be obsessed about giving our customers value for money. We also take a lead from Datacom in having no minimum contract periods and letting our service be the ONLY deciding factor for our customers continued use of SmartPayroll.

Datacom’s sales hit $609m
(The Dominion Post)
Datacom has bucked the downturn to report a 35 per cent jump in revenue to $609 million and a 9.5 per cent lift in net profit to $26.6m.

The revenue result was $30m higher than Datacom forecast in May when Prime Minister John Key opened the company’s $30m Orbit data centre in Auckland.

Staff numbers were up by 142 at 3075.

The privately-owned firm has enjoyed compound average annual revenue and profit growth of 14 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, over the past 10 years.

New Zealand revenues grew a modest 4.5 per cent in the year to March, but sales in Australia and Asia which account for more than half of Datacom’s business were up 79 per cent.

Chairman and majority owner John Holdsworth said in a statement that the result in Australia was helped by very strong performances from new operations in South Australia and Western Australia and the full-year impact of previous acquisitions and customer wins.

The result was “very satisfactory” in a year with decreasing margins and downward pressure on spending by many customers.

New Zealand Post holds a 35 per cent stake in the firm.

Stefan Nordbruch, an analyst at research firm IDC, says Datacom’s open-exit contracts which allow customers to opt out after giving notice are attractive as they reduce risk for businesses. Datacom has also focused on providing value for money. “In the current climate that’s a benefit.”

IDC has forecast the New Zealand IT services market will be worth $3.2 billion by 2013 growing 3.8 per cent per year. It predicts the market will be worth $2.7b this year.

(Dominion Post)

In December 2008 SmartPayroll was asked by TVNZ to appear on the NZI Breakfast Show and give an introduction into SmartPayroll and the benefit for small to medium business. Many people saw Asantha’s live interview and called to sign up to SmartPayroll after realising the benefits of the system.

We welcomed the opportunity and received fantastic feedback from our clients.