Business Accountants: Tax Planning Checklist for 31 March 2026 | Key Year-End Tax Tips

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - March 11, 2026 - PRLog -- Tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) Planning Checklist for 31 March 2026

As the 31 March balance date approaches, it's the ideal time for New Zealand business (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) owners to review their financial position and identify tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) planning opportunities before the end of the financial year. Proactive planning can help reduce tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) risk, maximise deductions, and ensure your business (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) remains compliant with Inland Revenue requirements.

At Outside Accounting (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) Wellington (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/), we encourage clients to use a year-end checklist to review key areas such as expenses, assets, employee payments, and tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) obligations. Below are several important areas to consider before 31 March 2026.

Review Expenses and Claim Eligible Deductions

One of the first steps in year-end tax planning is reviewing expenses to ensure all allowable deductions are captured.

Bad debts can be claimed as a tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) deduction, but only if they are confirmed to be unrecoverable and written off in your accounting (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) records before balance date. Businesses (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) should also review prepaid expenses, as some may still be deductible in the current financial year depending on the type of expenditure.

Another commonly overlooked area is accounting (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) and tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) service fee accruals. These are typically added back to the current year's tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) calculation and deducted in the following year when the payment is made.

Check Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Your fixed asset register should be reviewed before year-end to confirm assets still exist and are being used for business (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) purposes.

If assets are no longer in use and disposing of them would cost more than their value, it may be possible to write them off and claim a deduction for the remaining tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) value.

For the 2025–2026 tax year, remember that depreciation on commercial (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) and industrial buildings (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) has returned to 0%, which may affect deferred tax (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) calculations and financial reporting.

Businesses (https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz/) purchasing new assets should also consider the Investment Boost incentive, which allows an immediate 20% deduction on eligible new assets available for use from 22 May 2025. https://www.outsideaccounting.co.nz