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If you pay interest, you must send us information after each payment period.

Payer information 

We need your name, IRD number and contact address as the payer.

You must also provide the amount of interest paid, and resident withholding tax (RWT) withheld in the period you paid interest.

Customer information

You must provide information for each person you paid interest to. We need:

  • their name
  • their contact details - email, street address or mobile phone number
  • the amount and type of income paid to them
  • the tax withheld or the approved issuer levy paid on it
  • the date the tax was withheld, or the levy paid.

If you have it, you also need to provide:

  • their IRD number
  • their date of birth
  • the tax rate they have provided.

You must provide the name of any joint owners, and the following information:

  • IRD number
  • date of birth
  • contact details - email, street address or mobile phone number.

You must provide this information electronically unless you have an exemption.

Report due date

Reports are due by the 20th of the month following the month you paid the interest to the investor. You need to report only for the periods you make a payment in and withhold tax on that payment. We do not need nil returns.

Resident withholding tax certificates

You do not need to provide resident withholding tax (RWT) certificates to investors who have given you their IRD number, but you do need to give them to those who have not.

This rule also applies to dividends you treat as interest and when an agent or trustee withholds RWT from dividends.

Filing and paying tax

When you file and pay depends on how much you need to deduct in a month.

Filing investment income electronically

Correcting errors in investment income reporting

Regularly withholding $500 or more

If you estimate you’ll need to withhold $500 or more for each month of the tax year ending 31 March, you must file and pay by the by the 20th of the month following the month you deducted the tax.

Withholding less than $500 per month

If you estimate that you’ll need to withhold less than $500 for each month of the tax year ending 31 March, you must file and pay twice in the year. The dates to file and pay by are 20 April and 20 October.

If you discover that you’ve deducted more than $500 since the start of the previous month, pay the deductions for that two-monthly period by the 20th of the next month.

You’ll then need to file and pay monthly for the rest of the tax year ending 31 March. You must file and pay by the 20th of the month following any month you deduct tax in.

Last updated: 28 May 2024
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