Philip Barlow Nexia Auckland
Written by Phil Barlow

Ever since GST was first introduced in 1985, businesses have become very familiar with various aspects of GST which have been fundamental to meeting their GST compliance obligations.

Under the guise of “modernising GST” the Inland Revenue is introducing a number of invoicing and record keeping changes that will apply from 1 April 2023.

These changes have two stated purposes being:

  • To reduce the cost of doing business; and
  • To support e-invoicing and electronic record keeping.

As part of these changes, there will be a number of key terminology changes:

  • Tax Invoice will become Taxable Supply Information,
  • Debit/ Credit Note will become Supply Correction Information,
  • Buyer-created Invoice will become Buyer-created Taxable Supply Information.

From 1 April 2023, there will no longer be a requirement to keep a single physical document holding the supply information.

Instead, various information contained in your accounting system and contract documents may be used to support the numbers used in your GST returns. The thresholds for when you need to hold Taxable Supply Information will also increase.

Whilst clearly the way businesses transact has changed since GST was first introduced, the changes from 1 April 2023 could potentially add additional compliance costs for some businesses as their support for various supplies may need to come from multiple sources/locations, rather than the old tax invoice.

The above changes are not compulsory and businesses can continue to issue tax invoices and credit/debit notes as they have in the past. You may however find over time that some of your suppliers will change what documentation they produce and you will need to ensure you have sufficient other Taxable Supply Information documents to support any GST claims made.

The Inland Revenue have stated they will be issuing more information on this, leading up to the date these changes come into effect.

In the meantime, if you have any questions on how the GST changes will affect you, please contact the team at Nexia.

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