Resources & Glossary

A glossary of common FIF terms, plus links to the Inland Revenue resources worth checking before you file.

Start with official sources

FIFtax is a plain English companion to official Inland Revenue material, not a replacement for it.

IRD Guide IR461: Foreign Investment Funds

The main Inland Revenue guide for FIF rules. This site has been checked against the April 2026 guide; use IR461 for the full detail behind the summaries here.

View current IR461 Guide

Budget 2026 FIF Changes

FIFtax summary of Inland Revenue Tax Policy's 28 May 2026 proposal-stage FIF changes, including the proposed threshold increase, RAM expansion, AFI continuity, and corporate-migration clarification.

Read the proposal summary

FIFtax Filing Checklist

Use this site's checklist to connect the IRD rules, calculator result, records, disclosure, and foreign tax credit checks before filing.

Open the filing checklist

IRD Foreign Income Guide: IR1247

Part of a package for individuals covering various types of foreign income.

View current IR1247 Guide

FIFtax Foreign Dividend Helper

Plain English help for overseas dividends, withholding tax, Australian dividends, and foreign tax credit checks.

Open the dividend helper

When Transitional Residency Ends

A plain English guide to what changes in the income year when the transitional resident exemption ends.

Read the guide

IRD Australian Share Exemption Tool

Helps check if specific ASX-listed shares likely qualify for the FIF exemption.

Use the ASX Exemption Tool

IRD FIF Calculation Help

IRD's general page for working through FIF income calculations.

Visit IRD FIF Calculation Page

IRD Main Website

For all other tax information, guides, and forms.

Visit ird.govt.nz

Broker Import Guides

Step-by-step guides for exporting reports from your platform and importing them into the FIFtax calculator.

Sharesies FIF Tax Guide

Which reports to export from Sharesies, how to find them, and how to import them into the calculator.

Read the Sharesies guide →

Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Guide

How to export an Activity Statement CSV from IBKR and import it into the calculator.

Read the IBKR guide →

Hatch Guide

How to use Hatch tax-year CSV exports for positions, trades, dividends, and corporate actions.

Read the Hatch guide →

Foreign dividend help

Use these pages when the issue is overseas dividend income, withholding tax, or foreign tax credits rather than the FIF FDR/CV calculator itself.

US withholding tax

Gross dividends, US tax withheld, and records to keep for NZ filing.

Australian dividends

ASX exemptions, dividend income, and franking credit record checks.

Foreign tax credits

When overseas tax withheld may reduce NZ tax on the same overseas income.

Foreign Dividend Helper

Add dividend rows, convert them to NZD, group them by country, and export a worksheet.

Glossary of FIF Terms

Plain English definitions as a starting point. Use IR461 for the full rules.

Attributing Interest

Generally, your ownership stake or rights in a Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) that potentially make you subject to the FIF rules (unless an exemption applies), like the shares in Nvidia or Apple you might hold.

Cost / Cost Basis

For the FIF de minimis threshold, IR461 says cost is generally the amount paid for the attributing interest, with special rules for share splits, non-monetary acquisitions, some life insurance policies, and older interests. Current guidance uses NZ$50,000; Budget 2026 proposes NZ$100,000 from 2026-27.

Comparative Value (CV) Method

A FIF calculation method: closing market value plus gains, minus opening market value plus costs. IR461 says gains include amounts received from holding or disposing of the attributing interest, and costs include expenditure on buying attributing interests plus some foreign income tax liabilities.

Quick Sale Adjustment (QSA)

A component of the FDR calculation where shares in an attributing interest are increased and decreased in the same income year and there is a gain. The QSA supplements the base 5% FDR calculation for relevant quick-sale gains. It is the lesser of: (1) actual gain for each disposal to the extent it follows acquisitions made earlier in the income year; and (2) 5% × peak holding differential × average cost of units bought during the year.

Controlled Foreign Company (CFC)

A company where, in general, five or fewer New Zealand residents have more than 50% of the control interests, or a single New Zealand resident has a control interest of 40% or more. IR461 says a FIF does not include an income interest of 10% or more in a CFC.

Deemed Income

Taxable income calculated under certain FIF methods (like FDR) based on a percentage of the investment's value, regardless of whether you actually received cash income or made a capital gain during the year.

Fair Dividend Rate (FDR) Method

The most common method for calculating FIF income for shares/ETFs. It generally treats 5% of the investment's opening market value (plus any Quick Sale Adjustments) as your taxable income for the year.

Currency Conversion

IR461 says FIF income calculations can use actual rates, a rolling 12-month average, or a rolling average for shorter/longer periods calculated using mid-month rates, applied consistently to all attributing interests. The rolling 12-month average cannot be used for the attributable FIF income method.

Foreign Tax Credits (FTCs)

IR461 says foreign tax credits may be available for assessable overseas income, but limits apply. Australian franking credits and tax paid on UK dividends are not eligible foreign tax credits under the guide.

Foreign Dividend

A dividend or distribution paid from an overseas company, ETF, or fund. Keep the gross amount, tax withheld overseas, currency, payment date, and NZD conversion evidence.

FIF (Foreign Investment Fund)

IR461 says a FIF is a foreign company, including a foreign unit trust, a foreign superannuation scheme, or an insurer under a life insurance policy if the policy was not offered or entered into in New Zealand.

Market Value

The price your investment could reasonably be bought or sold for on the open market, usually based on stock exchange prices or published unit prices.

PIE (Portfolio Investment Entity)

An NZ-based investment fund (like many KiwiSaver funds or local managed funds). PIEs have their own tax rules where tax is often calculated by the manager at your PIR, capped at 28%. FIF rules don't apply directly to your investment in a PIE fund, even if the PIE itself invests overseas.

PIR (Prescribed Investor Rate)

Your individual tax rate for PIE investments (0%, 10.5%, 17.5%, or 28%).

Transitional Resident

IR461 defines this as a natural person who is a New Zealand tax resident, has not previously been a transitional resident, has been non-resident for 10 years or more, and has not applied for Working for Families Tax Credits. The year the exemption ends needs separate timing checks.

Eligible Trustee (Type A)

A trustee category that can use the de minimis threshold exemption. IR461 lists testamentary trusts, compensatory trusts, and trusts settled by the Accident Compensation Corporation under specific conditions. Current guidance uses NZ$50,000; Budget 2026 proposes NZ$100,000 from 2026-27.

Eligible Trustee (Type B)

A trustee category that can usually use CV and switch between FDR and CV in different income years if the settlor, complying-trust, and beneficiary/charity conditions in IR461 are met.

Revenue Account

IR461 says shares are held on revenue account when a person buys and sells investments regularly, or buys with the intention of making pecuniary profits from them.

Revenue Account Method (RAM)

A FIF calculation method that taxes actual dividends and qualifying realised gains on disposal, with gains and losses on disposal reduced by 30% before tax. Budget 2026 proposes wider RAM access from 2026-27, but current IR461 rules are narrower.

Stapled Stock

An investment that can only be disposed of if it is attached to a right in another company. IR461 lists not being stapled stock as one condition for the ASX-listed Australian share exemption.

Disclosure and Overseas Income Summary

IR461 says a person with an income or control interest in a foreign company, or an attributing interest in a FIF, may have to make a disclosure in their tax return. Inland Revenue publishes an annual International Tax Disclosure Exemption notice, but that notice does not exempt anyone from declaring FIF income if it arises.

From the 2023 tax year, individuals must file an Overseas income summary, IR1261. IR461 says this summary is required even when an International Tax Disclosure Exemption may apply.

Primary sources

If you need the source material behind Inland Revenue guidance, use the official New Zealand legislation website and search by the topic you are checking.

NZ Legislation Website

Use it as a primary source reference when your facts require more detail than a plain English guide can provide.

Visit legislation.govt.nz

Important: This is general guidance. FIF treatment depends on your own facts, so check Inland Revenue guidance or speak with a qualified tax professional before filing.