New Zealand tax year dates and deadlines
New Zealand's tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Inland Revenue names each year by the March it ends in, so the 2026 tax year is 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
Everything else hangs off that 31 March date: when your return is due, when you pay, and how long you keep the receipts.
Income tax: the main dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 31 March | The tax year ends. Every receipt dated on or before it belongs to the year just finished. |
| Late May to end of July | Inland Revenue issues automatic assessments to people whose income was all taxed before they received it. |
| 7 July | IR3 returns are due for people without a tax agent or an extension of time. |
| 7 February | Terminal tax, the balance of what you owe for the year, is due in the following year. |
| 31 March, a year later | The latest filing date for clients of a tax agent with an extension of time. |
| 7 April | Terminal tax is due for tax agent clients with an extension of time. |
For the 2026 tax year that means: the year ended on 31 March 2026, the IR3 was due on 7 July 2026, and tax to pay is due on 7 February 2027 (or 7 April 2027 through a tax agent with an extension). When a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, it moves to the next working day.
Provisional tax
If your residual income tax, the tax left to pay after deductions at source, was more than $5,000 last year, you pay the next year's tax during the year instead of all at once afterwards.
Under the standard option with a 31 March balance date, the three instalments are due on 28 August, 15 January and 7 May. Other options (the estimation option, the ratio option and the accounting income method) have their own schedules; Inland Revenue lists them on its provisional tax pages.
Your first year in business is not tax-free. If you start self-employment mid-year, the tax on that first year's profit arrives as a terminal tax bill, often at the same time as your first provisional instalment for the next year. Setting money aside from the start avoids the double hit.
GST return dates
GST returns are due on the 28th of the month after your GST period ends, whether you file monthly, two-monthly or six-monthly. Two periods break the pattern:
- the period ending 31 March is due on 7 May
- the period ending 30 November is due on 15 January
Inland Revenue does not grant extensions of time for GST returns. For what a receipt must show to claim the GST on it, see GST receipt rules in New Zealand.
Before 31 March: a short checklist
- Gather the year's receipts. Anything dated up to 31 March belongs to the year ending then, even if you paid it by card and the statement arrives in April.
- Check your records are in New Zealand. If your receipts live in a cloud app hosted overseas, export a copy to your own computer. Inland Revenue's electronic records statement accepts a backup held here in place of approval for offshore storage.
- Note your assets. Equipment over $1,000 is depreciated rather than deducted in full, so your accountant needs the purchase date and cost.
- Set up next year. A new tax year is a clean start for a separate business account and a receipts habit.
Sources
- Inland Revenue — Timelines at the end of the tax year
- Inland Revenue — Individual income tax return (IR3)
- Inland Revenue — Extension of time arrangements
- Inland Revenue — Provisional tax
- Inland Revenue — Filing GST
- Inland Revenue — Payment dates for provisional tax
- Inland Revenue — Rental income guide (IR264)
Common questions
When does the New Zealand tax year start and end?
The standard New Zealand tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March. The 2026 tax year, for example, is 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
When is my IR3 tax return due?
By 7 July after the end of the tax year, unless you have a tax agent or an extension of time. With a tax agent you may have until 31 March of the following year.
When do I have to pay the tax I owe?
Terminal tax is due on 7 February in the year after the tax year ends. If you have a tax agent with an extension of time for you, it is due on 7 April.
What are the provisional tax dates?
If your residual income tax was more than $5,000 and you have a 31 March balance date, standard-option provisional tax is paid in three instalments on 28 August, 15 January and 7 May.
When are GST returns due?
On the 28th of the month after your GST period ends, except that the period ending 31 March is due on 7 May and the period ending 30 November is due on 15 January.
Every figure on this page is checked against Inland Revenue's own guidance and linked in the sources above. Last checked . Thresholds change each tax year, so if you are reading this well after that date, confirm the current figures before you rely on them. Terms.
Keep reading
How long do you need to keep receipts for Inland Revenue?
Seven years after the end of the tax year they relate to. What counts as a business record, when the clock starts, and where the records must be kept.
ReadGST receipts in New Zealand: what a receipt must show to claim GST
Tax invoices were replaced by taxable supply information in 2023. What a receipt needs at $200 and $1,000, and how to work out the GST in a price.
ReadCan employees claim work expenses in New Zealand?
No — the employment limitation in the Income Tax Act blocks it. What you can claim instead, how reimbursements work, and when a contractor can deduct.
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