Jeremy Tauri: Keep on top of new law changes

The parental tax credit is a payment for a newborn baby which has now increased from eight weeks to 10 weeks of payments and from $150 to $220 a week.

April 1 marks the start of a new financial year. Are you up to date with the law changes that kick in this year? Run through the following to ensure your business is compliant and you're aware of entitlements that may affect you or your employees.

An important update for those who manage their own payroll is that the minimum wage rate increases from $14.25 to $14.75 an hour.

Ensure your payroll system has been updated to reflect this and make sure you have signed contracts for staff.

Part of being an employer means meeting employee costs that are incurred as part of their job.

If as an employer you provide accommodation payments or an allowance to employees, generally they are taxable. Some accommodation payments that are tax-free to the employee are those that involve out-of-town secondments and capital projects or work connected with the Canterbury earthquake reconstruction. If an employee is continually working in multiple locations or attends a training course or conference overnight then these are also exempt from tax. As an employer, because it's part of your income earning process, these payments will be tax deductible to you.

From this month, meal payments will no longer be taxed for travel of up to three months or during conferences, training or when working off the employer's premises.

Allowances for work clothing won't be taxed. The interesting thing about some of these allowances is that some can be applied retrospectively -- if you are providing allowances, get some advice on the tax outcomes and circumstances.

Quite often I meet self-employed people in particular who have not followed up their own parental leave entitlements. In most cases these can be reapplied for.

Paid parental leave, a payment for those that have temporarily left work to care for a new baby or adopted child has increased from 14 weeks to 16 weeks -- if for some reason you have not applied for paid parental leave its worth contacting the IRD to review your entitlement retrospectively.

The parental tax credit is a payment for a newborn baby which has now increased from eight weeks to 10 weeks of payments and from $150 to $220 a week. If you apply for paid parental leave you cannot get the parental tax credit.

If you have questions about how some of these changes might apply to you or your business ask your accountant to clarify them for you.

Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants.