About this Form

Use the IR4 Companies Income Tax Return to report a company’s income, allowable deductions, tax losses, tax credits, and the amount of income tax payable or refundable for the relevant income year.

You can complete and submit the IR4 online through myIR or use the paper form. Depending on the company’s circumstances, you may also need to provide a Financial Statements Summary (IR10), financial accounts, or other supporting forms.

When to Use this Form

An active company that is resident in New Zealand for tax purposes will generally need to complete an IR4 each year. This may also include certain unit trusts and bodies corporate.

A look-through company must complete an IR7 return instead of an IR4.

A company will generally not need to complete an IR4 if it qualifies as non-active and Inland Revenue has accepted a Non-active Company Declaration (IR433). To qualify as non-active, the company must:

• have received no gross income
• have no deductions
• have disposed of no assets
• have entered into no transactions that gave rise to income for any person
• have provided no fringe benefits to any employee or former employee
• have had no debit entries in its imputation credit account

A company does not automatically become exempt from filing merely because it has stopped trading. Filing obligations may continue until Inland Revenue confirms its non-active status.

What You Will Need

You may need:

• the company’s IRD number, contact details, addresses and bank account information
• the company’s Business Industry Classification (BIC) code
• the company’s financial accounts, IR10 or other accounting records
• details of business income, schedular payments, interest, dividends and other investment income
• details of income from partnerships, estates or trusts
• overseas income and overseas tax paid
• residential rental and other rental income and expenses
• details of taxable property sales and other asset disposals
• details of RWT, NRWT, RLWT, imputation credits and other tax credits
• donations, losses brought forward, group loss offsets and subvention payments
• provisional tax paid and the calculation of provisional tax for the following year
• details of payments to non-residents, overseas investments, share repurchases and non-resident ownership
• shareholder and director remuneration, loans, current account balances and related information
• annual imputation account information, where applicable

If the company received income from business or rental activities, it will generally need to provide either a completed Financial Statements Summary (IR10) or its financial accounts with the return.

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