There’s More To New Zealand Business Than Having A Registered Office

If you plan to do business in New Zealand it is likely you will need a Registered Office address. That is a prerequisite of New Zealand legislation but deciding where your statutory records will be kept is an important decision.

The New Zealand Companies Act requires any business in New Zealand to have a Registered Office address there. This includes overseas companies who are doing business in New Zealand through their Australian company.

By law, a Registered Office is required to keep and maintain certain records. In the case of companies that have overseas control (including companies controlled from Australia), the Companies Office will make a number of unannounced visits to that business address to check that the required records are there and being maintained in accordance with the legislation.

And that’s exactly why you should be looking for more than a registered office in New Zealand. You need to keep your statutory records with a firm experienced with looking after Australian businesses in New Zealand.

Inspectors from the New Zealand Companies Office regularly visit the registered office address of small overseas -controlled companies to ensure your statutory records are up-to-date and comply with New Zealand legislation. Significant penalties can be immediately levied against each director for non-compliance.

So simply providing the address of a registered office will not be enough to avoid the prospect of penalties for non-compliance. In fact, it’s simply a light to a moth! It will attract the attention of the Companies Office so you need to ensure you have the right records there and up to date.

And that’s why we suggest you allow us to look after those records for you. We have robust systems in place to ensure all the records required under New Zealand law are being kept and maintained.

Here’s When You Can Use Us

We are the only Australian-based Chartered Accountants that specialise in helping Australian-based businesses meets their obligations in New Zealand.

To use our registered office service we will also need to be appointed as your New Zealand tax agents.

That helps us to protect you in a couple of ways.

We are right across the evolving trans-Tasman rules to ensure you are registered correctly on both sides of the Tasman.

And if you use us to prepare the respective tax returns it means we can protect you from New Zealand’s harsh penalty regime which many Australian-resident businesses can be subject to.

Here’s Why You Should Use Us

We specialise in helping small Australian businesses to succeed in New Zealand. We are here to help you comply with the various New Zealand taxation and business laws without complicating the life of your Australian tax adviser. We are aware of the rules that impact on both sides of the Tasman.

We understand how NZ structures can result in double-taxation in Australia. So we’ll protect you from that.

Helping Australian businesses operate in New Zealand is what we do.

> Doing what needs to be done

We know what needs to get done in order to provide you with peace of mind, to protect Australian-resident Directors and companies from penalties and the unsavoury prospect of having your company removed for non-compliance.

We can take care of all the required resolutions and certificates including the ones that non-residents (and their advisors) forget about most often. We ensure that the necessary financial records are kept.

> Easy online approval of the important stuff

Not only can we help you meet your New Zealand requirements, we also host a secure online document portal to house your Statutory Records, Director Resolutions and Tax Returns. All are required to be kept at your registered office.

That makes life so much easier for Directors residing in Australia.

The New Zealand Companies Office allows us to use our easy secure online approval system (where you can use your computer or mobile device) to authorise the various resolutions and tax returns that are required to be approved by Directors. We’ll also upload all accounting and Tax Documents, Statutory Records and Resolutions that we prepare for you without you having to do a thing.

> The problem with using the address of friends, family and employees

If you are considering using the address of friends, family or employees, remember they will have access to sensitive and confidential information such as your tax returns and financial reports.

If you are using the address of a NZ-based employee, consider the challenges of recovering those records if the employee is terminated or leaves to work with a competitor.

> Trained staff

Our staff are trained to deal with visits from the Registries and Integrity and Enforcement Team of the New Zealand Companies Office when they arrive to check on your compliance. And because you are a small overseas-controlled company, they will. We ensure all documentation is at hand. We’ll handle any correspondence from the Companies Office and recommend what to do next.

Because we keep an eye on your records we can make sure they comply with the requirements of the New Zealand Companies Act and we’ll help you to put things right.

New Zealand Statutory Records

New Zealand’s legislation requires most businesses to have a registered office address in New Zealand. The New Zealand Companies Act and Income Tax Act both require certain records to be kept there and properly maintained.

In the case of companies that are controlled by non-residents (such as businesses run by Australian companies and directors), the Companies Office frequently check that these records are being properly kept. They are known to make a number of unannounced visits to the address to make sure things are in order and instant fines can be the result of non-compliance. These fines are enforceable in Australia.

Our team is trained to deal with these visits and we ensure all documentation is at hand. We’ll handle any correspondence from the Companies Office and recommend what to do next.

What’s more, we are one of the very few organisations that are able to provide the required resolutions to directors for online approval. This is particularly convenient when there are Australian-based directors.

Whenever we prepare the various resolutions required under New Zealand’s Companies Act, directors will be notified and can legally approve them online (even with a mobile device).

New Zealand legislation requires you to store certain financial records including tax returns at your registered office.

We ensure that we keep copies of any type of tax return we prepare for you with your statutory records as required under New Zealand legislation. So the records required to be kept at a registered office are there as they should be without you having to do a thing.

Our Secure Document Portal

Being the only Australian-based firm that specialises in helping you to do business in New Zealand, we have the capability for you to meet your New Zealand legal requirements online.

When we prepare tax returns or the required resolutions, registers and records, we notify you so you can easily approve the documents online (even with your mobile device).

Access is secure with our platforms conforming to the strictest Internet security protocols ensuring your confidential information stays that way.

If you plan to meet your own company compliance obligations, simply pay an additional $85 +GST per annum for full access to upload your documents.

This will give you complete control so you can ensure that all the required documentation is available to the inspectors when they arrive to check on your compliance.

Terrorism, Money-Laundering and You

Like a growing number of countries, New Zealand has passed legislation that puts the onus on accountants and any professional organisation that sets up businesses for foreigners to have systems in place to ensure Directors are not engaged in money-laundering or terrorism or serious crime.

If you have tried to open a New Zealand bank account without our help you will start to appreciate what challenges can arise because they have obligations as well.

We won’t make you constantly fill out forms or jump through hoops and over fires to allow you to run your business in New Zealand.

Instead, so that you can focus on running your New Zealand business in relative peace, we have invested in state-of-the-art technology that scans international sanction lists and watchlists every few hours, every day, along with over ½ a million daily news reports from hundreds of countries.

When a name on those lists is matched to a Director on our books, or if we detect suspicious behaviour, we’ll investigate and, if confirmed, report the match to the New Zealand authorities as we are required to do.

That means legitimate business owners like you can focus on running your business through our Registered Office knowing we have your back.

Questions ?

Our New Zealand tax expert, Mike Reddy, is a New Zealand Chartered Accountant and New Zealand Registered Tax Agent based in Sydney. He works with individuals and small businesses throughout Australia to help take care of your New Zealand tax questions and tax returns from our Sydney office.

Having been preparing and filing New Zealand tax returns and claiming tax refunds for New Zealanders since 1994, Mike is the most experienced New Zealand tax agent in Australia. He is regularly engaged by Australian tax agents and accountants who have clients with New Zealand interests.

So when it comes to looking after your New Zealand affairs, Mike can definitely help you with the right advice.

Call us now on 1300 791 600. There is no charge for a quick chat so we can talk you through the issues.