Payers of royalties to non-residents - reporting requirements

Income tax Dates

JAN 15

AIM instalments are due if you have a March balance date.
JAN 15

Provisional tax payments are due if you have a March balance date and use the standard, estimation or ratio options.
JAN 28

AIM instalments are due if you file GST monthly and have a March balance date.

All Income tax dates

Paying tax

If you're paying royalties to non-residents, you need to withhold non-resident withholding tax (NRWT).

If you’ve withheld tax from a royalty payment you’ve made to a non-resident, then you must pass this tax on to us. It must be paid by the 20^th of the month following the month in which you pay the non-resident.

Information requirements

For reporting information, NRWT on royalty payments has a different timeframe from other types of non-resident withholding tax payments. The information below is due to us annually by 31 May each year.

If you pay royalties to non-residents, you need to send us the following information at the end of the year:

your name, IRD number and contact address
the total amount of royalties paid
the total amount of tax (NRWT) withheld.

The following information is required for each of the income recipients who received royalties:

their name
their contact details - email, street address or mobile phone number
the tax rate they have provided
the amount and type of income paid to them
the tax (NRWT) withheld from it.

If it is available, you need to provide the following information for each of the income recipients who received royalties:

their IRD number
their date of birth.

You must provide the name of any joint owners. If held, you also need to provide the following information for any joint owners:

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

You will need to report this electronically unless you have an exemption.

The information is due by 31 May each year.

Options for reporting information

Although payment of NRWT withheld from royalty payments is still monthly, you have 2 options for reporting the information to us. You can either include the required information for NRWT on royalty payments in a:

monthly return (making sure to include along with other NRWT information)
end-of-year return (filing a separate return by 31 May for the whole year).

Monthly return

Other types of NRWT payments must also report the required information to us by the 20^th of the next month after withholding the tax. If there is no tax withheld, then no return is needed for that month.

You can include all the required information for NRWT on royalty payments in the monthly return where you're reporting the other NRWT payments. This will make sure that the total amount of NRWT in the return matches the total amount of NRWT paid to us for the month.

You'll be filing more frequently than required by legislation, but it may be a simpler option from a business-process perspective.

End-of-year return

Since the other types of NRWT payments require a monthly return, you'll need to make sure you do the following steps if you're filing NRWT on royalties only at the end of the year. This is required to ensure the payment amount for the month matches the amount in the monthly return for the other types of NRWT payments.

File an NRWT return for the total amount from the other non-resident withholding tax payments that require monthly reporting.
Make the NRWT payments (those requiring monthly reporting) for the period that matches the return you filed.
Make a separate payment for the NRWT on royalties. This payment must be made against the 'March' period of the tax year. You'll also need to include the IRD number and tax type. This makes sure that we hold this amount pending the March return. You do not file a return for this payment at this point.
By 31 May, file the annual return for the total NRWT withheld on royalty payments made during the tax year. Make sure 'March' is selected as the period. We will match this return with the payments made during the year for the 'March' period. If NRWT on any other payments has been withheld in March, then it can be combined in the same return. However, the return will need to be filed by 20 April to meet the reporting requirements for those non-resident withholding tax payments.
If you file the NRWT withheld on royalty payments made during the tax year separately to the other non-resident withholding tax payments, you will need to contact us to be set up as a multi-filer for the March period. This lets you file a return for the royalty payments due 31 May and a separate return for the other non-resident withholding tax payments due 20 April.

Filing investment income electronically

Correcting errors in investment income reporting