​Over the next few months we plan to run some helpful sessions for clients on various topics. These sessions will be free of charge and held at our office.  Keep an eye out in your inbox for more information about these. 

​Today we welcome Kate Ching to our team.  Kate has joined our team to assist with Administration, Information Technology and various projects we have.  Welcome to our team Kate!
​
Over the weekend Jarrod MacDonald completed the completed the Half Marathon as part of the Air New Zealand Hawkes Bay Marathon – congratulations Jarrod.

​​At Oldershaw and Co we take great pride in growing and developing our staff.  Currently we have three staff members studying to become an Authorised Financial Adviser, plus two staff members completing their CA (or CA equivalent) studies.  Studying on top of full time work (and everything else) takes a lot of dedication so we are very proud of their efforts and wish them the best for the year ahead.

Recently our Principals enjoyed a day blending the wine our firm won as part of a consortium at the 2018 Hawkes Bay Wine Auction where the proceeds of the auction go to Cranford Hospice.  A big thanks to Chris Scott and Church Road Winery for the great day that was had by all.

​Are you concerned about where your hard earned dollars are being invested?  Many investors are now beginning to be more concerned about where their funds are being invested.  From emissions variables such as greenhouse gas emissions intensity and potential emissions from fossil fuel reserves to other environmental and social sustainability variables such as land use and biodiversity, toxic spills and releases, operational waste, water management, factory farming, child labour, cluster munitions and landmines, nuclear weapons systems, tobacco, alcohol, gambling and adult entertainment.  With socially responsible investing (SRI), investments in companies are emphasised, reduced or excluded based on environmental and sustainability impact, as well as social considerations.
​
OCW have SRI portfolios available as an option for investors with the historical returns of these portfolio being commensurate to standard portfolios and are still well diversified.  If you would like to know more about SRI options for your investments contact one of our Authorised Financial Advisors today.

Recently IRD has updated their website and systems which has led to some confusion and things to be careful of.

Auto-Assessments
IRD is currently doing a lot of advertising about their auto assessments that will occur from 20th May 2019 onwards and how it ‘makes tax easier’. 
We are asking that you be wary of any assessments or refunds you receive directly from IRD and speak with us if you get any. There can be errors in the IRD system and unknown information, so please get in touch and we can help ensure your taxes are correct.


Refunds
IRD’s new system will refund any credit balance within 24 hours of it being paid now – so if you make a payment to IRD and accidently pay to the wrong tax type or the wrong tax period, it is highly likely they will refund that money directly to you and you then have 30 days to get it back to them without penalty. 
Refunds can be missed when they are direct credited back into your bank account, so please be vigilant about details of online payments to IRD and call us if you need any assistance. 

There has been a lot of publicity about payday filing and as we approach the 1 April 2019 deadline we suggest doing the following:

• If you have your own payroll software package check when your payroll software provider will have payday filing compatible software.  For some payroll software providers payday filing is still not available yet so switching to payday filing now is still not an option. 
• If you are using a manual payroll process, review this process as there are a number of options available which can make processing payroll and meeting your filing commitments more efficient. Contact us to discuss your options with regards to these.
• Where we process your payroll on your behalf, we will switch to payday filing automatically on the 1st April 2019.  
• Plan and schedule when to shift.
• Defer switching to payday filing for as long as possible as there are currently a number of issues being experienced with those undertaking payday filing and waiting more time will enable these issues to be ironed out.
• If you're using myIR to file you'll need to let Inland Revenue know you're switching to payday filing. You can do this in myIR.

We will be in contact in the New Year with further information as payday filing develops further.

In summary, for payday filing, from the 1 April 2019 employers must:

• File employment information every payday instead of an Employer monthly schedule (IR348).
• Provide new and departing employees' address information, as well as their date of birth - if they have provided it to you.
• File electronically (from payday compatible software or through myIR) if your annual PAYE/ESCT is $50,000 or more.
• Note that the due date for payment remains the same at the 20th of the month (or 5th and 20th of the month for twice-monthly filers).

The ways to payday file are:

1. In myIR through the Payroll returns account (instead of ir-File) by:
   a) file upload - payday filing compatible software is required, or
   b) onscreen data entry.
   Note that you will need to let IRD know you've switched to payday filing by opting in through your myIR account before you can see or use this account.
2. Directly from your payday filing compatible software. With this option you will be able to file directly to IRD from your software.
3. A myIR account is a pre-requisite for this option as your myIR logon credentials are required to authorise any file submissions from your software.

Note: Paper filers can't switch to payday filing before April 2019 unless they change to electronic filing.

​​Recently we contracted the services of an ACC levy refund specialist, Arrowform Limited, to conduct a thorough review of all our clients’ ACC invoices for any refunds due. 

For years, ACC’s complicated invoicing processes have resulted in many businesses and individuals being overcharged for ACC levies. Recently, ACC admitted in the media that they had incorrectly invoiced ACC levies to customers since 2002. They also said that they will be refunding these overcharges automatically to all affected customers. ACC have also admitted to incorrectly invoicing self-employed individuals. 

Given ACC’s recent error admissions, we now want to thoroughly check all clients ACC accounts, and check for any other invoicing errors ACC have been making that can lead to refunds due to our clients. 

Reviewing ACC’s invoicing, and identifying these overcharges, has always been difficult, which is why we have engaged Arrowform. They have developed a cost-effective process, using highly specialised tests and bespoke computer systems, to identify any overcharges made be ACC, that may result in refunds due.

Arrowform’s ACC account review system gets results – their review system has shown that 32% of companies and individuals that have paid ACC have been overcharged, with an average ACC refund due of $1,011. If you have ever paid an ACC invoice over the years, you could be due a refund. 

Shortly, we will be contacting everyone that has an ACC account outlining the ACC account review process in more detail. We will be encouraging all those with an ACC account to participate in this opportunity to have their account thoroughly reviewed for any refunds due dating back to 2002.