Who has to file an IR3 tax return in NZ, and when it is due

Most New Zealanders never fill in a tax return. When all your income has been taxed before it reaches you, Inland Revenue works out your year for you and sends an automatic income tax assessment. The IR3 is for everyone else: people with income Inland Revenue does not already know about. The line is low. If you received more than $200 of such income in the year, you file. For the 2026/27 year the IR3 is due on 7 July 2027, or as late as 31 March 2028 with a tax agent and an extension of time.

Two routes at the end of the tax year

The tax year ends on 31 March. After that, everyone with income is squared up in one of two ways.

An automatic assessment. Inland Revenue already knows about your income and the tax deducted from it, because the tax was taken out before the money reached you. It adds everything up, works out the right tax, and tells you whether you are due a refund or have tax to pay. You check it, and you tell Inland Revenue if anything is wrong.

An IR3 return. You tell Inland Revenue about your income, including the parts it cannot see, and the return works out your tax. Self-employed people, landlords and anyone with untaxed income go this way.

You do not get to pick. The kind of income you had decides it, and the $200 rule below is the test that matters.

Who gets an automatic assessment

Inland Revenue's page on income tax assessments covers people whose income is only salary, wages or investment income that has already been taxed. That includes:

• salary and wages taxed through PAYE;
• PIE income, including KiwiSaver;
• NZ Super and income-tested benefits;
• schedular payments, where a payer withholds tax for contract work;
• interest and dividends;
• Māori authority distributions;
• employee share scheme benefits.

Assessments start going out from the last weekend in May and continue into June and July, with refunds paid as they are processed. If yours shows a small amount to pay, Inland Revenue writes off a bill of $50 or less, though not if you used a tailored tax code, if your tax code or rate was wrong, or if you were a primary caregiver entitled to Working for Families at any time in the year.

Schedular payments sit on this list for a reason. The IR3 guide says people whose only income is schedular payments do not have to file an IR3: Inland Revenue calculates their tax and asks them about any expenses, so a contractor with business costs still gets a chance to claim them. Our refund or bill guide explains what an assessment shows and why it can go either way.

Who has to file an IR3

Inland Revenue's IR3 page sets the rule: you must file an individual income tax return if you received more than $200, before tax, of income it has not been told about. In practice that covers:

• Sole traders and self-employed people, whose business income has no tax taken out. See our sole trader guide.
• Employees with side income, such as freelance work or a small business alongside a job. See the side income guide.
• Landlords. Inland Revenue's rental income guide says individual owners include rental income in an IR3. See rental income tax.
• Partners in a partnership, shareholders in a look-through company, and shareholder-employees paid a salary with no PAYE.
• People with overseas income, such as employment or service income earned abroad.

The $200 is a low bar on purpose. A weekend of paid work outside your job, a few months of renting a room, or a modest online shop can all cross it.

A small example

Sam earns a $60,000 salary in 2026/27 and makes $3,000 of profit from freelance writing, with no tax withheld. That is more than $200, so Sam files an IR3. Income tax on $63,000 is $11,120.50, against $10,220.50 on the salary alone, so the freelance work adds $900.00, taxed at Sam's 30% marginal rate. PAYE has covered the salary, so about $900 is left to pay, due 7 February 2028. ACC will also invoice an earners' levy on the $3,000, about $52.50 including GST. Because Sam files an IR3, the $50 write-off would not apply even to a smaller bill.

Had Sam not filed, Inland Revenue's automatic assessment would have looked only at the salary and shown nothing to pay. That assessment would be wrong, and Inland Revenue is clear that you need to tell it when details on your assessment are wrong. The safest reading of the $200 rule is simple: if money came to you for work, sales or property and no tax was taken out first, count it.

Due dates: 7 July, or later with an agent

The IR3 is due on 7 July after the end of the tax year, unless you have a tax agent or an extension of time. With a tax agent and an extension of time, the filing date moves to 31 March of the following year. Any tax to pay is due on 7 February of the following year, or 7 April with an agent and extension.

As of 10 November 2026, the 7 July 2026 date for the 2025/26 return has passed. If you should have filed one and have not, file it now rather than waiting; the tax itself is not due until 7 February 2027.

Note the gap between the two dates. Filing in July does not mean paying in July. You have until February to pay, which gives time to save, but provisional taxpayers will also have instalments falling in that period. See the provisional tax guide.

What goes in an IR3

The IR3 asks about each kind of income separately. The 2026 return guide, for the 2025/26 year, uses these questions among others:

From there the return follows a fixed order. Total income less expenses gives income after expenses (Box 30). Take off any losses brought forward and you have taxable income (Box 32). The tax rates apply to that, then the IETC (Box 33), overseas tax, imputation credits and the tax already deducted come off, leaving your residual income tax. Subtract any provisional tax paid and you have your refund or your bill. For 2026/27, the rates applied are 10.5% to $15,600, 17.5% to $53,500, 30% to $78,100, 33% to $180,000 and 39% above.

PIE income works differently. It is not added to taxable income; instead, Inland Revenue checks whether your PIR was right and adds a PIE debit or credit. See PIR explained.

Common IR3 mistakes

• Entering PAYE with the ACC levy still in it. The PAYE on your payslips includes the ACC earners' levy, which is not income tax and is not refunded. The return asks for tax deducted after the levy is taken off.
• Using net dividends. The taxable figure is the gross dividend. Imputation credits then reduce your tax, but they are not refundable: if they exceed your tax, the excess is carried forward to next year. RWT on dividends, by contrast, is refundable. Our guide to dividends and imputation has the detail.
• Leaving out small interest. Interest of $50 or less may arrive without a certificate but still has to be included. See interest and RWT.
• Setting a rental loss against your salary. Residential rental deductions can only reduce residential rental income. An excess is carried forward, not used against your wages.
• Mixing up filing and paying. 7 July is the filing date. 7 February is the payment date.
• Expecting the $50 write-off. It is for automatic assessments. It does not apply if you file an IR3.
• Claiming IETC for the wrong months. You lose it for any month in which, for even one day, you or your partner were entitled to Working for Families, or you received a main benefit or NZ Super. See the IETC guide.
• Forgetting what comes next. The IR3 can trigger two later bills: provisional tax if your residual income tax was over $5,000, and an ACC invoice for any self-employed earnings, which ACC begins sending from September.

Questions people ask

Do I need to file a tax return in NZ if I only have a salary?

Usually not. If all your income is salary, wages or investment income already taxed, Inland Revenue sends an automatic assessment. You only need to check it and tell Inland Revenue if anything is wrong.

What is the $200 rule for IR3 returns?

If you received more than $200, before tax, of income Inland Revenue has not been told about, such as business, freelance or rental income, you must file an IR3 for that year.

When is the IR3 due for 2026/27?

7 July 2027 if you file yourself, or 31 March 2028 with a tax agent and an extension of time. Any tax to pay is due 7 February 2028, or 7 April 2028 with an agent.

Do contractors on schedular payments have to file an IR3?

Not if schedular payments are their only income. Inland Revenue calculates the tax and asks about expenses. If you have other untaxed income over $200, you file an IR3.

Does the $50 write-off apply to IR3 filers?

No. Inland Revenue writes off tax to pay of $50 or less on automatic assessments, but not for people who file an IR3, used a tailored tax code or were a Working for Families primary caregiver.