How do you file taxes in New Zealand in 2026?

Finish an IRD number and register a personal myIR account so you can see letters, link a bank account for refunds, and complete returns online. Give your employer a completed Tax code declaration (IR330) with the right tax code. Without a complete declaration, payroll must use the non-notified rate, which withholds far more than a normal employee code until you fix it in myIR.

KiwiSaver deductions also flow through payroll once you are enrolled: Set up KiwiSaver. Keep the same residential address in myIR when you move flats: Register and update your address. RealMe helps with some government logins, but myIR is Inland Revenue’s own portal: Set up RealMe.

The New Zealand tax year runs 1 April to 31 March. Many salary-only workers never invent a return from scratch; Inland Revenue assesses them from employer and bank reports. You generally must complete an IR3 if IRD asks you to, or if you received more than NZD 200 of income that IRD was not told about. Non-residents use the IR3NR path instead.

New tax residents often need to report overseas income and check whether a temporary foreign-income exemption applies for the first years. That is a residency and exemption question, not a visitor-visa guess. Immigration New Zealand notes that many new arrivals still file in their first year here. File in myIR when IRD opens the return, and watch the usual 7 July due date unless you have a tax agent or an extension of time.

Sequence this inside the wider arrival stack: Paperwork after moving and Open a bank account.