NZ GST Due Dates 2026-27

Your GST return and payment are due on the same day: the 28th of the month after your taxable period ends. A period ending 30 June, for example, is due 28 July.

Two statutory exceptions push the due date later, to give filers extra time over the summer break and the income-tax year-end:

• A period ending 30 November is due 15 January, not 28 December.
• A period ending 31 March is due 7 May, not 28 April.

You cannot get an extension of time to file a GST return — unlike income tax returns filed through a tax agent — so these dates are fixed. Work out exactly what's owing with the GST calculator.

Filing frequency is set by your annual taxable turnover, and you can always choose a more frequent option than your turnover requires:

• Monthly — compulsory once turnover reaches $24,000,000 in any 12-month period.
• 2-monthly — the default for turnover between $500,000 and $24,000,000, and the most common choice overall.
• 6-monthly — available if turnover is at or under $500,000.

Registration itself is compulsory once turnover reaches $60,000 — a separate threshold from the filing-frequency bands above. Check where you land, and whether voluntary registration makes sense below that threshold, with the GST calculator. To change your filing frequency, apply through myIR — IRD generally applies the change from the start of your next taxable period.

A late GST return draws a flat late filing penalty — $50 if you're on the payments basis, $250 if you're on the invoice or hybrid basis — separate from any penalty on late payment.

Late payment adds 1% of the unpaid GST the day after the due date, then a further 4% of what's still owing at the end of the 7th day after that. Unlike some older tax debt, GST does not carry the incremental 1%-a-month penalty on top of those two stages. Use-of-money interest also accrues daily on the outstanding balance — see every published rate on the IRD UOMI interest rates page.

Pay what you can by the due date to limit both charges, and contact IRD before the due date if you genuinely can't pay in full — an instalment arrangement can stop some penalties accruing further. IRD accepts payment by internet banking, direct debit or card in myIR, and a few other methods — see the IRD ways of paying page for the full list.