New Zealand

FIF working paper

Indicative, not tax advice.

Indicative foreign investment fund paper for 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Mar 2027. Cost is taken from your ledger. Opening and closing market values are figures you enter. A live price is not used as the 1 April or 31 March value.

1 Apr 2026 to 31 Mar 2027

Assumptions

This paper is indicative. It does not decide whether the FIF rules apply to you.
A ticker ending in .NZ is treated as a New Zealand share and is left out.
An ASX share this book treats as meeting Inland Revenue's Australian listed share exemption (Australian resident, franking account, not stapled) is shown as excluded and does not count toward the FIF cost; its dividends are shown as overseas dividend income. Confirm each with Inland Revenue's Australian listed share exemption tool. Any other .AX share is counted.
Crypto and metals are left out. This paper does not treat them as shares in a foreign company.
Other share tickers are treated as attributing interests for this paper.
Cost is quantity times price, plus the brokerage fee on the buy, times the exchange rate stored on the buy, in NZ$. A foreign buy with no stored rate is not given a guessed rate, and the FIF threshold test is then not calculated.
Amounts are rounded to the nearest cent, with half a cent rounded up. A cash figure in your ledger that differs by a cent does not change the result.
The FIF threshold test uses the highest total cost of attributing lots open at any point in the income year, including lots still open on 1 April. It is cost, not market value.
A cost exactly at the threshold is reported as at the limit. The public exemptions page says the de minimis exemption is for attributing interests that cost less than NZ$50,000. The Tax Technical article on section CQ 5 says FIF income arises when the total cost at any time in the income year is more than NZ$50,000. Inland Revenue's two sources word this edge case differently, so if your cost is exactly NZ$50,000.00, check with your tax adviser before relying on the exemption.
Fair dividend rate is 5% of the opening market value you entered plus the quick sale adjustment (IR461, April 2026, "Quick sale adjustment for the FDR method"): the lesser of 5% × peak holding differential × average cost of the year's purchases and the actual gain on shares bought and sold in the year. It is 0 unless shares were both bought and sold in the year, and is shown as its own line.
Comparative value is (closing market value + gains) − (opening market value + costs), the formula TDS 23/13 quotes from section EX 51. Gains are dividend gross in NZ$ plus sale proceeds in NZ$ during the year. Costs are the NZ$ cost of shares bought during the year. Fees are not added. A dividend without a stored gross is not included.
Opening and closing market values are figures you enter for the position. A live price is not used as the 1 April or 31 March value.
Both methods are shown. Inland Revenue says you must use the same method for every attributing interest under 10% where both methods are available. This paper does not choose a method.
Corrections are not replayed. Cost follows buy, opening balance and sell rows.
This paper reads up to 5,000 ledger rows.

Inland Revenue pages used

Indicative, not tax advice.