IRD Policy Change - Affecting Working Holiday Makers
11/11/2015
On 01 October 2015 it was brought to the attention of BYATA by IEP that a change in IRD policy required all international applicants of an IRD number to provide evidence of their home country tax file number commonly known as a TIN.
While the policy changes came about to support new property rules, it proves to be a big headache for some working holidaymakers as some nationalities are not provided a TIN until they work and many working holiday visitors have not been employed before travelling. In particular, a majority of German working holidaymakers have no record of their tax number available to use as proof.
Working with IEP, INZ, TIANZ and IRD, BYATA submitted a letter to the Honourable Todd McClay, Minister of Revenue, on 10 October to expedite a response due to the volume of working holidaymakers beginning to enter the country at the start of the peak season.
A response was received on 23 October confirming that those visiting New Zealand on a working holiday visa are only required to provide their TIN "if they have one" – and that the application form will be updated to indicate this.
This is a small change but it will have a significant impact on the ability of working holidaymakers to submit complete IRD applications.
To download the response letter, click here.
To download BYATA’s submission to the Minister, click here.
Until the amended IRD application form is available, you can attach a copy of the response letter to IRD applications to reinforce the message that "does not have a TIN" is a legitimate response.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly. brian.westwood@yha.co.nz
