Are we picking on ACC? Yes and rightly so.

Peter has previously written about ACC, but as he has gone for coffee, I thought I would jump in with more information about what is happening with ACC.

Many will be aware of the changes that occurred for companies around April last year that saw Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies (LAQC) disappear and be replaced by (in some cases) a Look-Through Company (LTC).

Generally, in an LTC shareholders hold company assets in their own name, based on their shareholding ratio, and account for income and expenditure in a similar basis.

Interestingly, ACC are saying that "An owner who is not an employee, but nevertheless contributes to the LTC's operation in any way either physically or mentally, will be liable to pay ACC levies - as the owner will be self-employed for ACC purposes."

ACC levies will be assessed, and an invoice sent, after the shareholder has filed an income tax return with IRD.

We wonder that if you read this message, then think about it, will you be contributing mentally to the company and therefore liable for ACC levies?