FIF filing checklist

Use this after the responsibility check and calculator. It is designed to stop the common failure mode: getting a number, then missing a record, method limit, disclosure step, or foreign-tax-credit issue before filing.

Source position checked: aligned to Inland Revenue's April 2026 IR461 guide, the 2025-26 deemed-rate update, and current IRD FIF/disclosure guidance. This is still general information, not tax advice.

1. Confirm the rules apply before using a number

  • Confirm you were a New Zealand tax resident and not protected by transitional-resident treatment for the relevant part of the income year.
  • Classify each holding: foreign company/share, foreign unit trust or ETF, FIF superannuation interest, foreign life insurance policy, NZ PIE, bank account, direct property, CFC interest, or something else.
  • Remove clearly exempt rights before calculating, especially eligible ASX-listed Australian company shares, Australian-resident FIF exemptions, CFC interests, and other IR461 exemptions.
  • Use the NZ$50,000 cost-threshold tracker for natural-person or eligible type A trustee cases. If cost exceeds the threshold on any day, the first NZ$50,000 is not deducted.
  • Check RAM eligibility before relying on ordinary FDR/CV if you became NZ resident on or after 1 April 2024 after at least five years non-resident, or if you are taxed overseas on disposals because of citizenship or a right to live or work there.

2. Gather the records that support the calculation

  • Opening market value for each relevant FIF interest at the start of the income year, usually 1 April.
  • Closing market value for each relevant FIF interest at the end of the income year, usually 31 March.
  • Every purchase, sale, dividend, reinvested dividend, brokerage amount, fee rebate, and foreign tax withheld during the income year.
  • FX evidence for each foreign-currency amount, including the conversion method used. IR461 allows actual rates and certain rolling or mid-month approaches when applied consistently.
  • Broker statements or exports from each platform, plus notes explaining any manual normalisation, split, transfer, or partial-sale allocation.

3. Check the method limits before filing

  • For common ordinary foreign shares and ETFs, the historical calculator estimates FDR and CV and compares them where that comparison is available.
  • Individuals and eligible type B trustees can often compare FDR and CV for ordinary shares; companies and other taxpayers need separate method-eligibility checks.
  • If the comparison option gives a negative CV result, the amount to return under that comparison is reduced to zero rather than becoming a deductible FIF loss.
  • Non-ordinary shares, cost method, deemed rate of return, attributable FIF income, RAM, foreign superannuation interests, and foreign life insurance policies need specialist treatment outside the ordinary FDR/CV calculator.
  • Quick-sale adjustments matter where you increased and decreased shares in the same FIF during the income year and made a gain.

4. Prepare the return and disclosure checks

  • Put the assessable FIF income in the correct tax-return place for the taxpayer type and income year.
  • Check whether an Overseas income summary or FIF disclosure is required. IR461 notes that some disclosure obligations can exist even where no FIF income is derived.
  • Check foreign tax credits separately. The calculator does not decide credit availability, limits, Australian franking-credit treatment, UK dividend-tax treatment, or withholding-tax credit limits.
  • Keep the calculation output, broker records, FX evidence, exemption notes, threshold tracker, and method-selection notes together with the return workpapers.
  • If you discover earlier-year omissions, consider Inland Revenue's voluntary disclosure process before an audit begins.

5. Escalate these cases before relying on the calculator

  • You hold foreign superannuation, foreign life insurance, employee-share-plan rights, non-ordinary shares, options, or stapled securities.
  • You are a company, trust that is not clearly type A/type B, PIE, partnership, or other non-individual taxpayer.
  • You are near the NZ$50,000 threshold and have transfers, split holdings, reinvested dividends, joint holdings, or older holdings without clean purchase records.
  • You are a recent migrant, departing resident, US citizen/green-card holder, or otherwise taxed overseas on disposals.
  • You need to claim foreign tax credits or reconcile the result with another country's return.
Run responsibility check Use threshold tracker Open calculator Disclosure resources