Equipment tax rules for a tree business in New Zealand
Inland Revenue lets a business deduct depreciation on assets kept longer than a year. This page lists the low-value threshold, the 20 percent rule from May 22, 2025 and the record keeping period on its pages.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The office is Inland Revenue. The wider comparison is on the equipment tax rules page.
What the pages say
The depreciation page, last updated September 14, 2026, describes depreciation as a deduction on capital assets kept longer than a year. It names computers, vehicles and machinery as examples. It links the guides IR260 and IR265.
Figures on the claiming page
| Item | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Low-value asset threshold | NZ$1,000 from March 17, 2021 |
| Earlier threshold | NZ$5,000 from March 17, 2020 to March 16, 2021, and NZ$500 up to March 16, 2020 |
| New assets from May 22, 2025 | 20 percent of the cost can be claimed as an expense, with usual depreciation on the other 80 percent |
| Methods | Diminishing value and straight line |
| GST-registered businesses | Claim on the price less GST |
Managing depreciation
The managing page, last updated March 8, 2021, says records are kept for at least 7 years. It says a sale above the adjusted tax value creates income, and private use of an asset is apportioned.
GST and records
The claiming page says a GST-registered business claims depreciation on the price less GST, because the GST is handled in its own return. The managing page ties the record period to the assets in use and to the disposal of an asset. Together the three pages describe a cycle of buying, claiming each year, keeping records and then reporting any sale above the adjusted tax value as income.
Forms and guides
The depreciation page links the guides IR260 and IR265. The page for IR260 carries a September 2026 date and the page for IR265 a March 2026 date.
Methods
The claiming page names two methods, diminishing value and straight line. It describes diminishing value as a high rate at the start of an asset's life with a reducing rate each year, and straight line as the same rate each year. It adds that the same method need not be used for all assets. Rates by asset type are in the guides Inland Revenue links.