Idiots guide to scoring an Audit
If you’re a bit of an adrenaline junky and looking for a new business thrill then try an IRD audit. Some Inland Revenue audits even come with surprise raids of your home and may involve taking photographic evidence of your knicker drawer as Dragons’ Den star Paul Webb found out. So if for some reason you’re a bit of an idiot and really keen to hit the IRD’s radar then here’s a few things that’ll help you succeed on your mission:
File your returns late or don’t even bother filing them at all.
Don’t pay your PAYE. This is a goody because it makes you look like a real criminal stealing from your staff.
Be nasty to anyone you’ve done ‘cashies‘ with so they’ll dob you in.
Get into an industry the IRD loves targeting like building, running a cafe or selling at those trendy farmers’ markets.
Sell on Trademe regularly and then leave the income out of your tax return.
Claim a big fat refund for Working-for-families by saying your business makes no money while you’re driving a flashy car, living comfortably and sending your kids to a private school.
Get yourself a tax aggressive Accountant or one that’s not even a Chartered Accountant.
Sell your family home to a company (LTC) and then rent it back to yourself.
When it comes to tax time ignore your overseas bank accounts or overseas pension fund.
Buy and sell lots of houses but remain adamant that you’re not a property developer.
Don’t pay FBT on your sign-written company car and then make sure you use it heaps on public holidays.
Pay yourself a salary of exactly $180,000 to avoid the top tax rate.
Ask the IRD for a massive GST refund or several GST refunds in a row with no corresponding income.
Obviously, we’ve written this article in a fun way and we strongly don’t want you doing any of these things which’ll only increase your chances of getting an IRD audit. We’re here to make sure you don’t make these silly mistakes and over the next few weeks we’ll also be chatting about the stupid things that’ll catch you out if you actually do get stung with an IRD audit. We really care about keeping you safe from IRD audits.