New Zealand
New Zealand - Common law
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  • Taxes
  • Legal
  • Incorporation
  • Tax Treaties
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New Zealand taxes

If you want to incorporate in New Zealand, reading this will help you becoming knowlegeable on the specific tax laws and rates for a LLC which is the most common legal entity in New Zealand.

New Zealand taxes entities on their worldwide income. The predominant standard rate for offshore income remitted back, from our research, but seek professional advice, is 28%. The country may have exemptions to remit income made internationally. Corporate income tax standard rate is 28%. This ranks New Zealand as 130th overall with regards to corp. taxation rate internationally.

The value added tax (VAT) rate in New Zealand is 15.00%, that ranks New Zealand as 128th overall in terms of value added tax rate worldwide. In terms of other taxation, an employer will contribute 3% to the equivalent of a social security fund and an employee will contribute 3%. The overall complexity of the tax system is medium. This is measured by average time to comply with a country's labor tax requirements is as it is 59hours. Contributing to this is the number of yearly labor tax payments, which is 2 in NZ.

Thin cap standards are officially enacted. Thin capitalisation refers to any type of laws on companies' debt-to-asset ratios.
Dividends received from resident entities may be exempted, provided that profits were already taxed. Dividends from foreign entities are usually exempted from taxation, unless dividends are on a fixed rate share or dividends for which the foreign company has received a tax deduction in its home jurisdiction, or a certain dividend from a portfolio foreign investment fund. Dividends are payments of earnings of the legal entity, passed by by the board of directors, to shareholders. Dividends can be either stock, cash, or property.

There is no Capital Gains Tax. However, certain gains may be subject to corporate income tax, such as those from the sale of real estate in certain cases. A capital gains tax is levied on the profits that a corporation or natural person realizes when they sell sells a capital asset for a price that is higher than the purchase price.

Dividends paid to non-residents are subject to withholding tax. Rates may vary depending if profits are taxed already in the corporate level. If profits are not taxed, dividends are subject to a withholding rate of 30%. If profits are already taxed, an exemption of withholding tax applies, as long as non-resident has 10% or more voting interest in the company. If not, dividends withholding tax may be 15%. Payments on interests and royalties to non-resident are subject to a withholding tax of 15%. Withholding tax rates may be reduced under a tax treaty.
There is no known tax on wealth in New Zealand. There are no known inheritance and transfer taxes. There is a real property tax. There are well known credits for innovation spend that include tax incentives in New Zealand.

The above is not tax or legal advice for your particular tax obligations. We can help you to find to a tax advisor in New Zealand who advise you. Ready to get started? Click incorporate now if you are in a hurry, or press the free consultation button above.

It takes approximately 34 hours to file and prepare documents for a New Zealand Common law.
The corporate tax is approximately 28% which is 130 in the world.

Owners of a company in New Zealand are not allowed to carry back a loss and may be allowed to carry forward a loss for 100 years.

The vat rate in New Zealand is 15% which ranks 78 in the world.

Patent box
RND credit
Wealth tax
Estate tax
Transfer taxes
Asset taxes
Capital duties
58Tax treaties
28%Offshore Tax
28%Corp rate
-Loss carryback years
34Corporate time
15%VAT rate
0%Capital gains
2018AEOI planned

New Zealand Legalese

For starters, the law in NEW ZEALAND is common law law. Common law jurisdictions are generally regarded as easier to structure. One is permitted to electronically sign documents.

The letters NZ is for NEW ZEALAND and the most common legal entity type in NEW ZEALAND is a LLC.

The amount you'll have to wait is about 1 Day to put together the paperwork and file a LLC in NZ. The minimum share cap is 0, This means you don't have any minimum share capital. The types of cash you can use to capitalize your legal entity is most commonly any legal tender.

Yes, one is allowed to re-domicile a LLC from NZ. You are usually allowed to change the jurisdiction of the company, pending certain procedures.

There must be at least 1 shareholder. This makes it possible for you to own a LLC in NZ by yourself. Corporate Shareholders are allowed, meaning you could have a company as a shareholder. Foreign ownership is permitted, up to 100% of the ownership of the LLC.

A legal entity is only required to have one director. Additionally, corporate directors are not permitted. Directors should not expect to be private, as they are disclosed. There is a requirement to have annual meetings of shareholders.

A registered office is a requirement, whom the company will pay yearly, for an address which can receive litigation or other legal process on behalf of the registered legal entity. A related requirement, a corporate secretary is not required in NZ, which can save the company money if you can perform basic corporate governance internally.

There is a legal obligation to file accounts on a yearly basis. However, there is oftentimes a requirement to have these accounts audited.

Thin capitalization rules are not in effect.

A corporate director is not permitted, meaning this country is not a good option if you are setting up a structure where you want to protect director liability.
The directors are disclosed in the public registry of New Zealand, ASIC. Shareholders are disclosed in the ASIC.

Typically companies take 1 day to setup and there are 1 director(s) required and 1 shareholder(s) required at the time of incorporation.

Overall we think New Zealand is a good option and have given it a score of 81 as an IO score, using the Incorporations.IO proprietary formula.

Directors not disclosed in a public registry
Shareholders not disclosed in a public registry
Redomiciliation permitted
Registered office required
Corporate director permitted
Local Secretary not required
Local Director not required
Electronic signature
1Shareholders required
1Directors required
1 Dayto form

Read this to learn about incorporating a company in
New Zealand

We can help you form a company in New Zealand. Click the button above for a no-obligation quote. We will provide you with all the necessary documents to open a bank account as well as a registered office in New Zealand, which is required by law.

New Zealand Tax Treaties

CountryTypeDate signed
Russia
DTC 2000-09-05
Czech Republic
DTC 2007-10-26
China
DTC 1986-09-16
Australia
DTC 2009-06-26
Chile
DTC 2003-12-10
Gibraltar
TIEA2009-08-13
Jersey
TIEA2009-07-27
Isle of Man
TIEA2009-07-27
Samoa
TIEA2010-08-24
Norway
DTC 1982-04-20
Fiji
DTC 1976-10-27
Ireland
DTC 1986-09-19
Papua New Guinea
DTC 2012-10-29
Dominica
TIEA2010-03-16
Vanuatu
TIEA2010-08-04
Saint Kitts and Nevis
TIEA2009-11-24
Denmark
DTC 1980-10-10
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
TIEA2010-03-16
Japan
DTC 2012-12-10
Bermuda
TIEA2009-04-16
Turks and Caicos Islands
TIEA2009-12-11
South Korea
DTC 1981-10-06
Sweden
DTC 1979-02-21
Mexico
DTC 2006-11-16
Belgium
DTC 1981-09-15
Cook Islands
TIEA2009-07-09
Marshall Islands
TIEA2010-08-04
Malaysia
DTC 1976-03-19
Indonesia
DTC 1987-03-25
Turkey
DTC 2010-04-22
Vietnam
DTC 2013-08-05
Hong Kong
DTC 2010-12-01
Canada
DTC 2012-05-03
South Africa
DTC 2002-02-18
Germany
DTC 1978-10-20
Poland
DTC 2005-04-21
Anguilla
TIEA2009-12-11
United Kingdom
DTC 1983-08-04
Philippines
DTC 1980-04-29
United Arab Emirates
DTC 2003-10-22
Austria
DTC 2006-09-21
Netherlands
DTC 1980-10-15
Bahamas
TIEA2009-11-18
Sint Maarten
TIEA2007-03-01
Switzerland
DTC 1980-06-06
Spain
DTC 2005-07-28
United States
DTC 1982-07-23
Singapore
DTC 2009-08-21
Taiwan
DTC 1996-12-11
Thailand
DTC 1998-10-22
India
DTC 1986-10-17
Curacao
TIEA2007-03-01
Niue
TIEA2012-08-29
Italy
DTC 1979-12-06
Cayman Islands
TIEA2009-08-13
Finland
DTC 1982-03-12
France
DTC 1979-11-30
Guernsey
TIEA2009-07-21
National Flag of
New Zealand (eng)
Aotearoa (mri)
New Zealand (nzs)
Currency
NZD
Area Code
+64
Capital
Wellington
Region
Australia and New Zealand
Native Languages
English
Māori
New Zealand Sign Language
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