New Zealand VAT registration threshold

What this value means

PERIOD BASIS: Rolling 12-month dual test (s 51(1) GST Act 1985): (a) look-back — at the end of any month, if the value of supplies made in New Zealand in that month and the 11 months immediately preceding it exceeded NZ$60,000 (subject to a proviso where the next 12 months will not exceed it); (b) look-forward — at the start of any month where there are reasonable grounds for believing supplies in that month and the following 11 months will exceed NZ$60,000. NON-ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS: The same NZ$60,000 threshold applies to non-residents. For non-resident suppliers of remote services (s 8(3)(c), from 1 Oct 2016), distantly taxable goods (s 8(3)(ab), from 1 Dec 2019) and listed services (s 8C, platform economy, from 1 Apr 2024), s 51(1C) applies the same s 51(1) test, permitting "a fair and reasonable method of converting foreign currency amounts" — verbatim from the section read this session. Only supplies treated as made in New Zealand count (for remote services, chiefly B2C supplies to NZ-resident, non-registered recipients). No nil threshold for non-residents. IMPORTED DIGITAL SERVICES: No zero threshold — non-resident suppliers of remote services (digital) to NZ consumers register under the SAME NZ$60,000/12-month test (s 51(1) via s 51(1C)), counting their NZ supplies, since 1 October 2016. Marketplaces/electronic platforms are deemed the supplier (ss 60C-60D); listed-services platform rules (ride-sharing, accommodation etc.) from 1 April 2024 (s 8C, s 60CB). Simplified pay-only registration path exists for non-resident suppliers (s 51B (the pay-only simplified path for remote-services suppliers; s 54B is a different mechanism — Commissioner-discretion registration for certain non-resident suppliers)). Engine traps: (1) look-back proviso: exceeding NZ$60,000 does NOT trigger registration if the Commissioner is satisfied the next 12 months will not exceed it, or where the excess is due to ending/substantially reducing the taxable activity or replacing plant/capital assets (s 51(1)(c)-(d)); capital-asset sales are excluded. (2) The forward test means a single large contract triggers liability at the start of the month. (3) The statutory amendment note dates the current figure 30 March 2009 (Inland Revenue administered the increase from $40,000 as applying from 1 April 2009 — use 2009-03-30 if following the statute note). (4) The threshold can be raised by Order in Council without an amendment act (s 51(1)(a) and s 51(8)). (5) Deregistration uses the same $60,000 test (s 52). (6) Unit title bodies corporate exclude member supplies (s 51(1B)). Researched against the primary instrument and then attacked by an independent adversarial verification pass before being served (2026-08-08). Where that pass refuted a citation, the correction it proved has been applied; no headline threshold was refuted.

Get it programmatically

curl https://ausref.dev/v1/nz/vat-registration-threshold
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History:    curl https://ausref.dev/v1/nz/vat-registration-threshold/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://ausref.dev/provenance/nz/vat-registration-threshold

Other New Zealand series: Official Cash Rate (OCR) · Interest on money claims (prescribed rate) · Goods and Services Tax (GST) · Adult minimum wage · Public holidays · Consumers price index · Company income tax rate · Withholding tax rates · Personal income tax rates · Statutory social-insurance contributions

The same figure elsewhere: Papua New Guinea · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Vanuatu · all 8