New Zealand Taxation 2026: Principles, Cases and Questions has been updated and revised to include all relevant information for the 2025-26 income tax year.
Chapter 6, Income of Individuals notes the Court of Appeal decision in Rasier Operations Ltd v E Tū Inc [2024] NZCA 403, [2025] 2 NZLR 150 which held that four Uber drivers were employees rather than independent contractors. The decision has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Chapter 10, Depreciation contains an update on Interpretation Statement, and Fact Sheet IS 25/03 and IS 25/03FS: Income tax – identifying the relevant item of property for depreciation purposes. The interpretation statement sets out helpful criteria to consider when identifying the item of property. This chapter also includes a new section on the Investment Boost regime (new sub-pt DI of the ITA), that provides a deduction for new investment assets and seeks to encourage capital investment and raise productivity.
Chapters 13 and 14, Calculating Tax and Tax Payments contain all the 2025-26 tax year tables and examples that allow the calculation of income tax liability for individuals and businesses. Chapter 18 Primary Industries contains the updated livestock values and examples for farm accounting calculations. Chapter 27 Social Assistance contains the new figures for tax credits administered by Inland Revenue, and benefits administered by the Ministry of Social Development.
Chapter 19, Environmental Taxes has updates to the Emissions Trading Scheme 2008 section. There are also revisions and updates to the areas on maritime taxes, water taxes, mineral and petroleum royalties, and the tax deductibility of environmental remediation.
Chapter 23, Tax Administration has been updated to reflect the changes to the Inland Revenue corporate structure. This chapter also has important revisions to the section on Inland Revenue’s powers to obtain information – including notes on new Operational Statements OS 25/04: The Commissioner of Inland Revenue’s search powers and OS 25/05: Section 17B Notices.
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