COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR TAX RETURNS NZ INVESTORS AND LANDLORDS ASK

By Garreth Collard, Senior Property Accountant | April 29, 2026

Common questions about your tax returns come up every year around the same handful of topics. These include filing dates, LTC losses, ring-fencing, refunds, and the jargon on the IR3 itself. This page answers them in order, starting with the ones we hear most.

30-Second Read

If you’re linked to a tax agent, your extension of time pushes your filing deadline to 31 March — but IRD needs to receive it by then, not just have you post it.
Send your information in early. We recommend allowing 5–6 weeks to collate, check and file your return properly.
Rental losses are ring-fenced. They can only offset other rental income, not your salary or wages.
LTC shareholders must file a personal return even with no other income. LTC profit or loss flows straight through to you.
Refunds only go to your bank account. IRD doesn’t offer cheque refunds, whatever the tax return screen might suggest.

Tax Return Filing Dates

When does my tax return have to be filed with IRD? If you have an extension of time to file, the date is 31 March. Most clients linked to a tax agent or accountant have this extension automatically. IRD needs to receive your return by that date. If you post it on 31 March, it arrives too late.

Can I send my information in mid-March and still make the deadline? Unfortunately, no. Getting the figures right takes a proper review process. Several people check your financial statements and tax return before we file. We recommend allowing at least 5–6 weeks. That gives us time to collate, code, compile, check and file your financial statements and tax return properly.

No Income?

I didn’t earn any income last year, but I’m a shareholder in a Look-Through Company. Do I still have to file a tax return? Yes. You’ll have income or a loss from the LTC. You need to declare that to Inland Revenue through your personal tax return, even if you had no other income of your own.

My rental runs at a loss. Why don’t I get a tax refund from it anymore? The government changed the rules. Losses from residential rental property are now “ring-fenced”. That means you can only offset a rental loss against profit from other rental income — not your salary or wages. Read more about how ring-fencing works here, and about our recommended strategies for managing it here.

LTC Losses: Where Do They Show Up?

I don’t see any impact from the LTC losses on my final tax figure — where did they go? Here’s an excerpt from an actual IR3 tax return showing a rental loss carried through from an LTC:

The first image shows the initial tax return page, which only displays a net figure and a loss to carry forward. The second image — a breakdown from page two — shows the detail: total rental income, deductions claimed this year, and deductions brought forward from prior years. It also shows the amount actually claimed and the excess deductions carried forward to next year. (We’ve removed the LTC’s name, which is why it just reads “LIMITED.”)

That excess-deductions figure is the ring-fencing rule in action. The loss doesn’t disappear — it waits in the background until you have enough rental profit to absorb it.

How Do the Amounts on My Profit & Loss Relate to My Tax?

Here’s a typical Profit & Loss report. Gross Profit is highlighted at the top, and Total Expenses is highlighted further down. The result — a loss, shown in brackets — sits at the bottom.

That loss figure lands on your tax return and offsets other rental income you’ve received. In this example, the person’s income sits in the 33% tax bracket (currently $78,101 to $180,000). They could offset the roughly $10,666 loss against other rental income they have. Without other rental income to offset it against, ring-fencing carries the loss forward to future years instead.

How Is the Tax Actually Calculated?

IRD adds up all your sources of income — wages, interest, dividends. It then adds up all your sources of loss, such as LTC losses. Tax gets calculated on the net figure. From that, IRD deducts tax you’ve already paid, such as RWT, PAYE, or provisional tax. What’s left is either a debit (tax to pay) or a credit (a refund).

Current personal tax rates, from 1 July 2024, run as follows:

Up to $15,600: 10.5%
$15,601 to $53,500: 17.5%
$53,501 to $78,100: 30%
$78,101 to $180,000: 33%
Over $180,000: 39%

You can check these against IRD’s current individual tax rates(opens in new tab) at any time, since rates and thresholds can change.

Dividends — AECT/Entrust

Why does my IR3 show a dividend of nearly $500 from Entrust(opens in new tab) (formerly the Auckland Electricity Consumer Trust), when I only received about $300-something? The Entrust dividend appears on your tax return as the gross dividend, less dividend imputation credits, less dividend withholding tax. That calculation lands you at the $300-something you actually received. You can see the exact breakdown here(opens in new tab).

Refunds

Does my LTC get a refund as well as me? No. Refunds go to you personally. IRD “looks through” the company at tax time — hence the name Look-Through Company. Any refund belongs to the shareholders, not the LTC itself.

Results

Is the refund amount shown on my return what I’ll actually receive? Probably, but not guaranteed. IRD reviews every return filed, and sometimes their figures don’t match ours, due to:

Debts or credits neither of us was aware of
Keying errors, on either IRD’s side or ours
Other adjustments IRD applies during processing

If IRD’s figure differs from what we filed, don’t panic — errors on either side can be corrected.

Jargon

What’s an IR3? What’s an IR526? How long does filing actually take? The IR3 is the standard personal tax return form (non-residents use an IR3NR instead). Filing online takes about half an hour on our end. IRD then processes it, which can take anywhere from one week to twelve weeks or longer, before your refund lands.

The IR526 is the donations rebate form, processed separately from your IR3. You can now log in to myIR and upload your own donation receipts(opens in new tab) throughout the year. IRD processes them once your personal tax return is done.

ACC

I own a rental property, or I’m self-employed. Why is ACC(opens in new tab) sending me a bill? If you received rental income in NZ and didn’t use a property manager, ACC can still invoice you. Self-employed? You’re also liable for the ACC Employer and Earner Levy(opens in new tab).

Summary

Most tax return questions come back to the same few things: file early enough to give your accountant real review time, and remember that refunds go to you personally, not your LTC. Understand too that ring-fencing changes how — and whether — a rental loss helps your tax position this year. The IR3 excerpts and Profit & Loss example above show exactly how a rental loss moves from your accounts through to your tax return. That’s usually the part clients find hardest to visualise from numbers alone.

Talk to EpsomTax.com About Your Tax Return

If any of this raises a question specific to your own return — an LTC loss that doesn’t look right, a ring-fencing calculation you want checked, or a filing deadline you’re worried about — don’t wait until March to ask. Contact EpsomTax.com and we’ll walk through it with you. We work with New Zealand property investors and LTC shareholders every day; we’d rather answer the question now than untangle a surprise later.

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