New Zealand

Upcoming changes to GST invoicing in New Zealand  The Inland Revenue of New Zealand is introducing a set of new rules around tax invoices, with effect from 1 April 2023. Here is a summary of the key points:  

• New terminology:   

Note that:  businesses will not be required to change the wording on their tax invoices to reflect the new terms.   

• Date for providing taxable supply information to the buyer  

Sellers must provide their buyers with the taxable supply information within 28 days (or by an alternative date agreed by both parties) of a request for supplies over NZ$200.   In the case of supplies under NZ$200, sellers must keep a record of the supply, but are not required to provide taxable supply information.   

• Physical record keeping is no longer required   

There will be no need to maintain a single physical document containing supply information, such as a tax invoice, credit note, or debit note. All the information you need to support your GST returns may be contained in your transaction records, accounting systems, and contract documents.  

• Providing Supply correct information   

In the case of an incorrect amount of GST being included in the taxable supply information (currently called tax invoice), or when the seller has included an incorrect GST amount in their GST return, supply correction information (currently called credit notes or debit notes) must be provided.   Also, the Inland Revenues encourages business to adopt PEPPOL e-invoicing and has published a list of registered software providers at eInvoicing Ready product register | ATO Software Developers    

The journey of e-invoicing Back in 2018, Australia and New Zealand government signed the Trans-Tasman Electronic Invoicing Arrangement, with the objective to create and maintain a common Australia and New Zealand e-invoicing approach, so to improve invoicing productivity and reduce the costs of doing business for both governments. One year later, it was officially announced that both governments will adopt PEPPOL standards in the e-invoicing implementation. Following Australia’s lead, New Zealand has also made the first step towards mandating B2G e-invoicing. Starting from March 31, 2022, large businesses and government organizations must begin receiving PEPPOL e-invoices in New Zealand. To exchange e-invoices between suppliers and buyers, businesses must have a PEPPOL access point and a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN). The invoice format should follow PEPPOL XML standard (PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0) and must be archived for 7 years. According to the New Zealand government, the country would save approximately $4.4 billion by implementing e-invoicing in business-to-business over the next decade. Therefore, the government is attracting Small-Medium businesses to use PEPPOL e-invoicing by offering a 10-day payment term for all e-invoices.