Waikato Business News July/August 2017

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56 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS July/August 2017 Making tax simpler Inland Revenue (IRD) is now full swing into the implementation of its business transformation programme, which aims to improve New Zealand’s tax system to meet current and future needs. The latest publication in the Making Tax Simpler series centres on ways IRD can leverage technology and other changes to the tax system to make it more straightforward for the majority of individuals to comply with their tax obligations. Income tax is currently collected from individual taxpayers by two main methods: 1. Some payers of income withhold tax from payments made to individuals, and forward the tax directly to IRD, such as employment taxes collected through the PAYE system and bank interest taxed through the “Resident Withholding Tax’ (RWT) system. 2. Under the self-assessment system, individual taxpayers report all of their income to IRD on their tax return and it is taxed accordingly. The draft simplification proposal aims to shift the focus onto the first withholding tax method, and improve the current collection methods. The changes are broadly broken down into what happens during the tax year, and what happens at year end. During the year Under the current withholding tax system, it can be difficult for IRD to collect the correct amount of tax from an individual. The nature of the system means that mistakes can be made in selecting PAYE codes, or unexpected changes in income can lead to refunds or tax to pay at the end of the year. For example, when an individual has two jobs, and the second job puts them partially into a higher tax bracket, they may be taxed at 33 percent on all of that income, causing them to be overtaxed. A tax return is then required to refund the additional tax. Under the new system, IRD will gather better quality information, and suggest changes in real-time, to more accurately tax an individual at the time income is derived. After the end of the tax year At the end of a tax year, individuals are currently required by law to consider their income tax position and determine whether they are required to file a tax return or request a personal tax summary. IRD considers this is onerous and complex for many individuals with straightforward tax affairs, and many taxpayers are unaware that they are responsible for ensuring they have paid the correct amount of tax for the year. IRD propose two options to improve this. At the moment, IRD automatically issue a personal tax summary to a number of individuals, e.g. those who have used a special tax code or received working for families’ tax credit. The individual is required to verify and correct the information, and any tax payable / due is calculated. It is hoped that the improvements made to the withholding tax system ‘during the year’ mean that the tax that has been withheld (eg. employment income and bank interest) will be accurate and a tax return will not be needed. Instead, IRD would contact the individual if there was a year-end tax liability or refund. Employment income, interest income, NZ sourced dividends, and Maori authority distributions would all be accounted for by the IRD in the individual’s tax calculation. Individuals will still be responsible for providing additional information to IRD if they earned income without any withholding tax, such as self-employment or rental income. The information will be provided to IRD using their online system, and after the first year reporting a certain type of income, the system would automatically prompt individuals to add similar information. Other changes include increasing the use of direct bank transfers for tax payments / refunds, and refunds may be automatically paid to the individual without needing to be requested. It will also be easier to claim a donation tax credit through the online system, without needing to file an IR526 In an ideal tax system, an individual would always pay the correct amount of tax, nothing more and nothing less. The ability for IRD to help people get their tax position correct is dependent on them receiving quality information in a timely manner rather than receiving it when it is too late to make an immediate correction. Through a more regular and timely provision of information to IRD, TAXATION AND THE LAW > BY HAYDEN FARROW Hayden Farrow is a PwC Executive Director based in the Waikato office. Email: hayden.d.farrow@nz.pwc.com they will be better placed to ensure a higher number of individuals have paid the correct amount of tax by the end of the year. Some may have concerns about the increased information gathering by IRD. It will be a case of balancing the need for privacy against the need for efficiency. The comments in this article of a general nature and should not be relied on for specific cases. Taxpayers should seek specific advice. CBD parking sensor installation under way Sensors are being installed in Hamilton’s CBD as part of a new parking system aimed at revitalising the central city which begins on October 1. Hamilton City Council contractors are installing ‘smart’ sensors in all on-street parking bays including bus stops, loading zones, disability parks and taxi stands. When operational, the new parking system provides free on-street CBD parking for the first two hours and then $6 per hour for the third and subsequent hours. The current parking charges are $2 per hour with a maximum two-hour time limit. The new parking technology will include the sensors and an app to allow payments on mobile devices as well as monitoring levels of parking availability. Current parking meters will remain for now. Contractors started installing the first of the 1345 parking in on-street parking bays in the central city from July 18. The aim is to complete the work in four stages by August 15, although the work is weather-dependent so these dates may change. Contractors will be drilling small holes in the centre of each parking space and inserting a small electronic sensor. Much of this work will be done at night to reduce traffic effects (between7pm and 7am) and contractors are doing some day work to reduce the effects of construction noise for residents or visitor accommodation. Contractors will also be adjusting the work schedule to minimise parking disruption for the retail, entertainment and hospitality sectors of our CBD. The nature of the work means some noise and traffic affects are unavoidable but there will be no road closures. Contractors will be working in stages, coning off a series of parks and then reopening each park as the sensors are placed. POSITION YOUR BUSINESS FOR GROWTH AT TITANIUM PARK Centrally located and with transport links, Titanium Park is the perfect location for your business to capitalise on the growing Waikato region. Both developed and undeveloped blocks available. To find out more about this unique opportunity contact: Mark Morgan on 027 562 3351. TAURANGA 1.10hrs | 97kms AUCKLAND AIRPORT 1.30hrs | 133kms ROTORUA 1.10hrs | 99kms NEW PLYMOUTH 2.45hrs | 230kms TAUPO 1.35hrs | 145kms SECTIONS AVAILABLE NOW TITANIUM PARK HAMILTON www.hamiltonairport.co.nz | www.titaniumpark.co.nz
What is inbound marketing? MARKETING MATTERS > BY MEHRDAD BEHROOZI Mehrdad (Merv) Behroozi is general manager of Hamilton graphic design and web development company E9. Phone: 07 838 1188 Email: merv@e9.nz Traditional marketing is all about fighting for the attention of potential customers. In essence we do what we can to break into their lives and make them see our brands, services, and products. This is primarily done through advertising in publications, radio, TV, and on websites. Often, in an attempt to get the most out of each dollar spent, the focus of the advertising is not on a person but rather on a target audience. If the campaign is successful then a few people from the target audience will think of our services or products when they find themselves in a situation that requires it. Inbound marketing uses a different philosophy. Instead of trying to interrupt the lives of target audiences with our marketing message, inbound marketing focuses on attracting qualified prospects. This is done through the design and distribution of content and materials that are relevant, useful and address the problems that the person or business has. Rather than being a message that interrupts the prospect’s life, it is information that the prospect is actively searching for through Internet search engines like Google, blogs, and social media platforms such as Facebook. For some time now, marketers have known that the shape of the sales funnel has changed. The widest part of the funnel is no longer at the top. The Internet has given customers convenient access to a far larger plethora of solutions. Today customers start their search for a solution by checking out the brands they have been exposed to and then, instead of streamlining the options, they search for all the other alternative options that are available online. It is at this stage that the content designed by inbound marketers kicks into play. The inbound marketer is attracting the prospect by providing the useful information that they are looking for in the place that they are looking. Inbound marketing consists of four stages: attract, convert, close and delight. Each stage has to be used in sequence. The “attract” stage in inbound marketing is very specific about who it targets. The idea is to attract the right person, at the right time, using the right content. Once the correct person has been attracted, the next step, “convert”, becomes a lot easier. A person turns into a prospect when the person willingly provides his or her email address in return for some content. The “close” stage is concerned with the conversion of the prospect into a customer and can be done through the use of emails with Call-To-Actions, CRMs that enable the better client relationship tracking, and nurturing through better targeted communications and content. Finally after the prospects have become customers it is important to continue engaging with them. Since the phrase was coined by Brian Halligan in 1999 inbound marketing has matured from a dark art used by startups and agencies into a well established marketing method used by companies of all sizes. It is especially well suited to the changed shape of the marketing funnel that has been caused by the Internet. Fundamental to its success is the creation of excellent content and that requires excellent research, analysis, copy writing, and design. Businesses that embark on inbound marketing campaigns without high quality content seriously risk damaging their brand. Holographic computer technology create a buzz TECH TALK > BY DAVID HALLETT David Hallett is a director of Hamilton software specialist Company-X, design house E9 and chief nerd at Waikato Need a Nerd. Company-X analyst Chris Gardner tries out Microsoft New Zealand’s new HoloLens. To say we love getting our hands on the latest technology at Company-X is an understatement. In fact, we embrace it. Which is why, when Microsoft New Zealand turned up at Wintec’s Hamilton CBD campus with the first self-contained holographic computer to show off you couldn’t see our team for dust. Software developers, business analysts, directors, you name it, formed a polite line in The Atrium to try on Microsoft’s answer to the VISOR worn by the starship Enterprise’s chief engineer Geordie La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. It’s called the HoloLens and puts what was considered, just 30 years ago, to be 24th century technology into the hands of 21st Century people. LaForge’s VISOR enabled the character, who was otherwise blind, to see throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, from heat and infrared through visible light to radio waves. HoloLens does something equally amazing. It allows software developers, like the clever team we have at Company-X, to create software that renders computer generated 3D objects alongside real world objects. Microsoft calls the application of this new technology mixed reality because it mixes reality with virtual reality images created by the headset. “Mixed reality brings people, places, and objects from your physical and digital worlds together,” Microsoft boasts on its website. “This blended environment becomes your canvas, where you can create and enjoy a wide range of experiences.” Instead of Skype for business calls, or Google Hangouts, over a webcam, HoloLens allows the sorts of holographic Jedi Council calls seen in the Star Wars movies. When we tried the HoloLens at Wintec it was nice to hear that, at least some of our developers were already more than familiar with the HoloLens and had tried it out before. Not bad for a technology in the process of hitting the ground, running. Microsoft included a working application for the medical profession for us to get our heads around, and our hands on. Anyone wearing the HoloLens, with the app running, could examine a three dimensional computerised cadaver created from data from a real cadaver. It was as if the cadaver was in Wintec’s Atrium with us, as the Company-X team poked and prodded the simulation to learn how the human body works. The neat thing about the application was that we could take as long as we needed, which wouldn’t have been the case if the cadaver had been real, and everyone got the chance to have precisely the same experience, which would be helpful when it comes to evaluations. The training possibilities such a device can offer are as limitless as the applications business leaders can think up, and software developers can build. HoloLens can also take more mundane tasks, such as teleconferencing, up a level. Instead of Skype for business calls, or Google Hangouts, over a webcam, HoloLens allows the sorts of holographic Jedi Council calls seen in the Star Wars movies. Picture a council of, say, a dozen, with some of them in the room and others off site. Those off site can be represented by life sized holograms, being broadcast from wherever the participant is, via HoloLens. The technological landscape is changing all the time, often making the business world an easier place to navigate.
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Waikato Business News July/August 2017

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