Overdue GST returns in New Zealand: penalties and catching up

Let 2Fin do the boring bits

Catching up is mostly sorting, and sorting is the part 2Fin takes off you. Bring in two years of bank statements at once — CSV, Excel or PDF, several files in one go — and Fin reads every line; in testing, 1,891 transactions came in in about a second on a desktop computer. Each transaction is categorised with its GST or VAT worked out, every overdue period is listed with its due date, and Fill all periods saves a draft of each one with a single press.

What is left for you is the decisions, not the data entry. Purchases are grouped by payee — the supplier, the phone company, the fuel — so you answer each payee once and the answer covers every period. Fin’s confident guesses (80% sure or more) can be accepted in one tap and undone one by one, and a payee can become a rule so the next import sorts itself. Every figure opens to the transactions inside it, and the finished statements export for you or your agent to check and lodge.

What late GST costs in New Zealand

A late GST return costs $50 if you account on the payments basis and $250 on the invoice or hybrid basis. Paying late is separate: 1% of the unpaid GST the day after the due date and a further 4% on day 7. Use-of-money interest is charged daily on unpaid tax at 8.97% from 16 January 2026. A first late payment in two years may get a grace period instead of a penalty.

Filing overdue returns

File every overdue GST return as soon as you can. If you don’t, Inland Revenue issues a default assessment of what it thinks you owe and may charge the late filing penalty as well. On a 2-monthly cycle, two years behind is twelve returns; file them oldest first so each period’s figures stand on their own.

If a return you already filed was wrong, telling Inland Revenue before it notifies an audit reduces a shortfall penalty by 75–100%. Late filing and late payment penalties can be waived for a reasonable cause or a genuine one-off mistake, but not because of your financial circumstances. This is general information. Check what applies to you with a registered tax or BAS agent, or with the tax office.

Rebuilding each period from your bank history

Download statements covering every overdue period. On the payments basis, sales and purchases fall in the period the money moved, which makes a bank file the natural starting point. Services to clients who live outside New Zealand and are not here when the work is done are zero-rated, as are exported goods; keep the evidence of where the client is.

If you can’t pay

File the returns, then request an instalment arrangement in myIR, paying weekly, fortnightly or monthly; if you can’t meet the minimum, Inland Revenue will call you. Interest is built into the instalments. Financial relief, such as a write-off, is a separate application.

Importing your bank history and having it categorised starts free; preparing the BAS, VAT or GST statement is on the ELITE+ and AUTO+ plans (see plans).