Tax Deadline Waived For Flood Farmers

19 February 2004 PR 38/04
Tax Deadline Waived

Federated Farmers of New Zealand (Inc) has received assurances from the Minister of Revenue that flood-affected farmers who cannot meet their tax filing and payment deadlines do not need to worry, said Federation President Tom Lambie.

"Federated Farmers is aware that some farmers have lost all their paper and electronic records," he said. "Others cannot access their computers to calculate PAYE and GST payments as they have no power.

"Even those farmers who can use their computer or still have their paper records might not be able to meet their filing deadlines. Some cannot send their Inland Revenue Department (IRD) forms and payments because mail is not being picked up in flood-affected areas," he said.

"We are fully aware that it will take some time for some farmers to be in a position to meet their IRD obligations," he said.

While IRD automatically applies late-filing penalties and interest for overdue payments, the department has the discretion to reverse these charges. Federated Farmers will ensure that this is done for flood-affected farmers.

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