If you are an employer and have overdue tax debt, best to take their call (or better yet, call them) and make an agreed plan to repay it

This is a re-post from here.

If you’ve got GST or Employer Tax debt, Inland Revenue (IR) wants you to start repaying it now. Ignoring your debt will not make it go away.

Expect a call from Inland Revenue

If your business owes more than $1,000 in tax debt that is between 6 months and 5 years old, you might receive a call from IR soon.

They will tell you:

• how much overdue debt you have
• remind you that penalties and interest are starting to increase
• encourage you to pay your debt in full or set up an instalment arrangement.

More than $10,000

If your GST and/or employer debt (EMP) is more than $10,000, IR will remind you of your tax obligations and the possible legal consequences of ignoring them.

Most businesses stay on top of their tax obligations, but if you’ve fallen behind, it’s important to act now.

Ignoring it will only make things worse.

What IR will do

1. IR will call you first.
2. They’ll leave a message if you don’t answer their call.
3. If you don’t respond to their message, they’ll make one more attempt to contact you, but won’t leave a message.
4. If you still haven’t responded, they may visit you in person.

Other options IR will use

If you don’t agree to pay your debt in full or set up an installment arrangement, there are 2 other options that IR can use to resolve the debt.

They can:

• take money owed directly from your bank account
• start insolvency proceedings.

Contact IR to sort your debt out

You can start to sort your debt by talking with IR when they call.

You can also use your myIR account to make a payment by selecting the ‘Make a payment’ link for each overdue tax type.

Or you can set up an instalment arrangement if you’re unable to pay the full amount.