NEW ZEALAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Alex Neal, Violet Yu, Sandy Chen and Jonathon Russell, Cone Marshall Limited
Cone Marshall Limited Floor 3/32 Mahuhu Crescent Auckland Central Auckland 1010 New Zealand Tel: +64 9307 3950 Email: info@conemarshall.com Web: www.conemarshall.com
Overview In New Zealand, the private wealth landscape con - tinues to experience growth and developments. The changes include updating the legislative framework enacted in the previous century which is no longer suitable for the modern needs of New Zealand, with enactments such as the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. The New Zealand government budget was announced on 28 May 2026 with changes to tax poli - cies that are expected to impact investment behaviour in private wealth. There are changes in the regulation of overseas investments in New Zealand for certain offshore investors. There have also been important case developments in the past 12 months and chang - es in trends relating to the practice of asset and estate planning. Re-Registration of Incorporated Societies All incorporated societies registered with New Zea - land’s Register of Incorporated Societies are required to re-register by 5 April 2026 to keep their incorporated society status with the current IRD number. Failure to re-register by the deadline will result in removal from the New Zealand Register of Incorporated Societies. This requirement is subsequent to the changes introduced by the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, which repealed the previous Act enacted in 1908. The amendments mainly aim to modernise the legislation and to provide more guidance for better governance of incorporated societies. Some examples of changes in the legislation include: • outlining clearer statutory duties for committees and boards of incorporated societies;
• transparent procedures for dispute resolution and complaints; and • more accountability from societies in general. The 2022 Act introduced new requirements which require all New Zealand incorporated societies to change their rules or, as now referred to in the 2022 Act, their constitution. This created work for legal practitioners in New Zealand in assisting with the re- writing of constitutions and re-registration of incorpo - rated societies. Taxation Changes on Charitable Donation Tax Credit The Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill (No 3) has intro - duced a new limit to charitable donations at NZD 100,000 per annum or the donor’s annual taxable income, whichever is lower, to be eligible for dona - tion tax credits. This change will apply to donations made on or after 1 April 2027. The current rule allows donation tax credits at a rate of 33.33% for all charitable gifts made, with the total amount of gifts limited to the taxpayer’s taxable income. The change is intended to manage the New Zealand government’s expenditure on donation tax credits. Accompanying the change in taxation was a state - ment called the Regulatory Impact Statement, out - lining the current issue that the Crown is spending around NZD350 million per year on existing donation tax credits, which is considered not cost-effective. There is also the government’s concern about dona -
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