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Insurance, medical expenses, prescription charges, cost of cars, heating and domestic services as well as personal tax, avoidance of double tax, zero rated capital gains tax and tax on businesses are discussed in this section.
Housing is the major investment for most people and in New Zealand the rate of house ownership is high. Generally, in the cities houses are more affordable in the South Island than the North Island, with the smaller towns in both islands being more affordable than the larger centres. There are some minor regional differences in architecture and style.
Insurance
Medical
Medical insurance for 4 people (two adults and two children) could be around $200 to $350 per month.
Accident insurance
ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) is a government-run organisation that provides no-fault personal injury cover for everyone injured in motor vehicle-related road crashes on public roads, as well as for other types of accidents and injury. The cover is paid for by levies collected directly through a duty on petrol sales, through motor vehicle licensing fees, and through employer levies.
What does ACC cover?
- Fully paid emergency care and ambulance services
- Subsidised GP/specialist and other medical treatment such as physiotherapy
- Non-urgent surgery (this is fully paid for in most cases)
- Weekly compensation equivalent to 80 percent of your gross earnings (up to a maximum of $1,365.05 per week)
- Support services such as home-based rehabilitation and childcare
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A lump sum compensation for permanent impairment
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Support to help you return to work.
The Land Transport Safety Authority supplies the above information.
Do I have to pay anything else?
On 1st July 2002, the ACC levies for motor vehicles increased. The motor vehicle levy increased to $141.10 for a standard motor vehicle. The levy is collected with your motor vehicle licensing fee. Over the past two years, there has been considerable increase in rehabilitation services for seriously injured people. Three important factors influence motor vehicle levies: The number of crashes, severity and the length of time an injured person receives ACC entitlements.
What about health costs?
Family Doctors
Expect to pay up to $50 per visit depending on the practice. There are no hard and fast rules here.
Plunket
Young Children (under 5) visit Plunket New Zealand 's leading provider of child and family health services. Plunket is a unique mix of a professionally educated workforce operating hand in hand with an extensive volunteer support network throughout the country.
Dentists
School children
Dental services (a trained school dental nurse) for primary school children are free. You can always choose to take your child to a private dentist but then you pay for it. For high school students there is no dental nurse. However, you can pick a dentist of your choice who is participating in the scheme and the government will pay until the child leaves school.
Adults
For everyone else the following is just a guideline and charges will vary with individual practices. As with most services, it pays to shop around:
Prescription Charges
There’s no easy rule here. Generally, the charge is $15, medication included. Depending on the type of medication you could pay a fee on top of that depending if the government subsidizes the medication. We have found that many antibiotics are subsidised.
ACC
ACC will also pay costs for injuries such as sporting injuries and work-related injuries. This includes surgery if required, and follow-up care.
Are cars expensive?
Thousands of second-hand vehicles are imported from Japan every year, and these are quite affordable and usually in good condition. As in any car purchase, you need to investigate that it’s everything that’s claimed – for instance, some dealers have been caught tampering with the odometer. It’s against the law, and you can ask for a guarantee that the kilometres on the clock are the true reading, and you can also ask for the reading when the car was imported.
How much will it cost to keep our home warm?
New Zealand relies on hydroelectric power for most of its electricity generation, with some wind, coal and thermal generation. New Zealand does not have nuclear generation.
It is almost impossible to give you a guideline as your expenses are going to depend on the style of your home, how energy efficient it is and what type of heating you prefer. However our family is on average not spending more than $300 per month on electricity bills.
Central heating is relatively uncommon, but modern homes can have underfloor heating and double-glazed windows. The building standards require full insulation in new homes and there is an increasing emphasis on and awareness about, energy-efficiency. Heat pumps are becoming very popular. Log burners and/or gas heaters or electrical heaters warming only specific rooms are still quite common here. In Christchurch, we have around 12-14 weeks of frosty weather in wintertime and the winds can be a bit cold. Power companies include: Meridian, Trustpower
Banks
We have a wide range of banks and they are so competitive there is not a huge difference in service. Cannex is providing star ratings for banks based on fees and features. This star rating is for residential investment home loans.
Something quite handy in New Zealand is the widespread, well-established use of the EFTPOS card system (Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale). You can use this bankcard as a debit card on your bank account for groceries etc. and you can also use it to withdraw cash. Most retail outlets in New Zealand offer EFTPOS, and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are readily available with street access.
However, most New Zealand banks don’t open on Saturdays or Sundays (although customer demand is forcing some change in some areas of the country). If you arrive during a weekend, do check your cash reserve before you leave the airport terminal. Banks have agencies at the airports open at various hours. Westpac, BNZ, ASB, ANZ, National
Domestic Services
Most of these services are based on a free quote system and are mostly run by small entrepreneurs, many of them as franchises. They will come to your home, estimate the work involved and quote for the whole job.
- Cleaning services range from $20 plus per hour up to $55 for set jobs e.g. cleaning a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home.
- Gardening/landscaping is usually quoted per job, rather than on an hourly rate.
- Window cleaning ranges from $30 - $45 per hour.
- Carpet cleaning for a three-bedroom home ranges from $150 depending on extra rugs etc.
- Plumbers average anything from $55 - $110 per hour plus travelling costs.
- Electricians around $47 and above per hour.
- Hairdressers. Prices can vary from $30 - $80 for a cut. Boys can pay $15 for a clipper cut.
- Nannies, $15 to $25 per hour.
- Car valet services from $125 to $175 depending on the work involved.
Personal Tax
Personal tax is payable on a sliding scale in New Zealand. As a general rule income is taxed as follows:
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Up to $38,000 = 19.5% tax
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Over $38,000 to $60,000 = 33% tax
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Over $60,000 = 39% tax for that portion over $60,000.
You don’t need to file a tax return if you receive a salary from an employer, as the employer will deduct the tax from your pay (Pay as you earn, or PAYE). However, if you have other income from different sources, you will probably need to file a return, so it pays to check with the Inland Revenue Department.
Avoid Double Tax
Non-residents are subject to New Zealand tax on all New Zealand-sourced incomes. But, the New Zealand government has negotiated agreements with the following countries so you don’t have to pay tax twice:
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- China
- Denmark
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Philippines
- Republic of Korea
- Singapore
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
Tax on capital gains
No tax is payable on the capital growth of a New Zealand property when you buy and hold e.g. for investment purposes. However, if you buy with the specific intention of selling (doesn’t really matter when in the future) the profit or capital growth on that property will be taxable. When buying subject to overseas investment consent Accrual Tax could be applicable.
But there are taxes on businesses
To view tax rates for:
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Sole traders
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Companies
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Non-profit organisations
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Partnerships
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Trusts
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