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Take a picture, save money on tax

Published: Wed 20 Aug 2014 05:21 PM
Take a picture, save money on tax
Taxpayers will be able to find out whether tax pooling can save them money simply by taking a photo of their tax statement on their smartphone.
It is one of three new features Tax Management NZ (TMNZ) believes will further improve the usability of its Pay My Tax app, says chief executive Chris Cunniffe.
The photo functionality lets taxpayers find out if tax pooling can help eliminate IRD late payment penalties and reduce use of money interest on their tax liabilities.
“Because tax is a complex subject and something most people tend to shy away from, we wanted to make getting help as easy as possible,” says Cunniffe.
“This functionality can take away the pain and that whole discomfort for someone looking at their statement and trying to figure it out.”
Taxpayers simply take a photo of their statement and enter their contact details within Pay My Tax.
Once they have sent the photo, someone from the TMNZ customer support team will review the document and get in touch with them.
While the functionality is primarily for those who pay provisional tax, and is not designed to determine whether taxpayers are owed a refund from the IRD, Cunniffe encourages anyone who has received any other tax-related correspondence to use the app to see if tax pooling can assist them.
“They can take a picture of any tax-related document and send it to us. If we can help them, we will.”
Push notifications – which will alert taxpayers about upcoming key tax dates and important updates – and a video tutorial on how to use the app are the other new features.
“The functionality we have created is driven around user needs,” says Cunniffe.
The latest release for Pay My Tax is available for download from the Google Play Store and iPhone App Store.
Pay My Tax allows taxpayers to defer provisional tax payments to a time that suits them – without incurring IRD interest or late payment penalties.
It also lets them reduce the cost on underpaid provisional tax.
TMNZ launched Pay My Tax last year.

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