IR3 Filing Checklist For Sole Traders
An IR3 filing checklist for sole traders is the year end individual return Inland Revenue uses when you invoice in your own name. The tax year is 1 April to 31 March. The IR3 tells Inland Revenue about income and the expenses you are claiming, then calculates a refund or tax to pay.
You need to complete an IR3 if you received more than $200 (before tax) in income Inland Revenue has not been told about, even for part of the year. Self employment sits on that list. Send the completed return by 7 July unless you have a tax agent or an extension of time.
Official starting point
Inland Revenue: an IR3 is different from an income tax assessment, where Inland Revenue works out your tax from income it already holds. If Inland Revenue has not been told about the invoices, you file. You do not wait for a PAYE square up to cover the side hustle.
Income tax assessment
Inland Revenue already has salary, wages, benefits, interest, and some PIE income. If that is all you have, Inland Revenue may work out your tax without an IR3.
IR3 individual return
You file when Inland Revenue has not been told about more than $200 of income. Self employed profit sits here. Taxed PAYE still comes in with the return. You claim business expenses on the same form.
Who this checklist is for
This page is for people who work in their own name in New Zealand: Dunedin photographers, Hamilton tradies, Wellington designers, and anyone with a PAYE job plus invoices. Clocks and first year timing sit on the Self Employed Tax hub. This page is the filing list, not a rate worksheet.
Inland Revenue’s I’ve been asked to complete an IR3 page also lists GST registration (unless you are an IR56 taxpayer), being registered as an employer (with listed exceptions), using AIM for provisional tax, a non standard balance date, overdue returns, and some company, trust, or partnership income. If none of those apply and you think you do not need an IR3, contact Inland Revenue. If you are not a New Zealand tax resident, file an IR3NR instead.
business.govt.nz: while you are a sole trader you must file an IR3 at the end of each year. Inland Revenue: even if you stop getting an income type during the tax year you still complete an IR3 at the end of that year. A company files an IR4. A sole trader files an IR3.
Pull highlight: Inland Revenue, more than $200 (before tax) in income it has not been told about, even for part of the year, including self employment.
Before you start in myIR
- 1 Add the income type. Inland Revenue: you can add or remove an income source or type at any time in myIR. Example they give: you receive a salary and start a part time business, so you add self employment. Go to your income tax account, then select More. You can also call Inland Revenue.
- 2 Wait until June if payers still have to report. Inland Revenue: if anyone who paid you has to send information about salary or wages, benefits or taxable pensions, interest, or KiwiSaver or other PIE income, wait until June to file. Reddit threads that file in April then watch KiwiSaver land later are fighting that clock.
- 3 Update contact and bank details. Inland Revenue’s complete my IR3 page: check contact details and bank account before you start. You will need bank account details, income for the tax year, and expenses you want to claim.
- 4 Request the return if it never arrives. IR3G for 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: if you have to complete a return but Inland Revenue has not sent you an IR3, you must request and complete it by 7 July 2026 unless you have an extension of time or a non standard balance date. You can do that in myIR.
Trap: no File link is not a holiday
r/PersonalFinanceNZ and r/newzealand threads that cannot find File usually have not added self employment as an income type, or they are looking before payer data lands in June. Inland Revenue still wants the IR3 if the $200 test is met. A PAYE refund on the cafe job does not declare the invoices. Contact Inland Revenue in myIR if the return stays missing.
Gather income, expenses, and extra forms
Inland Revenue’s complete my IR3 page: taxed income such as salary or wages is included automatically in myIR. If Inland Revenue sends a paper IR3, a Summary of Income is mailed separately. Inland Revenue’s types of individual expenses page: claiming expenses incurred in generating income reduces taxable income. If you are in business, including self employed or working as a contractor, you may be able to claim expenses such as home office, car, depreciation, and environmental costs. business.govt.nz: you claim those expenses on the IR3, and you keep the receipts.
- 5 Work out net self employed income. IR3G: if you received self employed income between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, show your net income at Question 24. Do not put schedular payments there. Those sit at Question 12. Do not dump self employed expenses into Box 29. Box 29 is for other expenses such as a fee to complete the return. A profit estimate before you file sits on the self employed tax calculator.
- 6 Complete the IR10 if you are in business. Inland Revenue lists a Financial statements summary IR10 for untaxed income from your business. IR3G: use an IR10 and speed up processing. Inland Revenue does not need a set of accounts if you use the IR10. You still complete financial accounts and keep them. In myIR, include IR10 as a secondary form. The IR10 form itself says you only need to complete it if you are in business.
- 7 Add the other schedules that actually apply. Inland Revenue also lists IR3R for rental income, IR833 for bright line property sale income, IR1261 for overseas income and tax credits, and Adjust your income in myIR if you received Working for Families or have a student loan. Complete my IR3 also lists the Schedule of business income IR3B 2026 and Farming income IR3F. Skip any form that is not your income.
- 8 Keep the records behind the numbers. Inland Revenue record keeping: keep records of cash and non cash sales and expenses, including electronic records, for at least 7 tax years, in English or Māori unless Inland Revenue approves another language. Cloud storage off shore needs Inland Revenue approval for you or the provider. business.govt.nz: keep banking information, financial accounts, invoices, and other contractual information for at least seven years.
| Extra form Inland Revenue lists | When it travels with the IR3 |
|---|---|
| IR10 financial statements summary | Untaxed income from your business. Speeds processing. Keep the accounts even if you do not send them. |
| IR3B schedule of business income | IR3G: one way to summarise details for businesses that are not farming. IR3F is the farming twin. |
| IR3R rental schedule | Rental income, including Airbnb and Bookabach on Inland Revenue’s 7 July list. |
| IR833 | Income from a bright line property sale. |
| IR1261 | Overseas income and tax credits. |
| Adjust your income | Working for Families payments or a student loan, from the I want to menu in myIR. |
File by 7 July, pay later
Inland Revenue’s IR3 page: send the completed return by 7 July unless you have a tax agent or an extension of time. Inland Revenue’s 7 July page: income tax returns for untaxed income were due 7 July 2026. If you are required to file and do not file by 7 July, penalties or interest may apply, unless you have an extension of time. Filing and paying are not the same date. Cash for the bill sits in how much tax to set aside NZ sole trader.
| Clock | Date Inland Revenue published |
|---|---|
| Standing file date | 7 July unless you have a tax agent or an extension of time. |
| IR3G 2026 file example (year 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026) | Complete and send the IR3 by 7 July 2026, unless you have an extension of time or a non standard balance date. |
| IR3G 2026 pay example | Tax to pay by 7 February 2027. Agent with a standard or late balance date may have until 7 April 2027 to pay. |
| Wait for payer data | June, if salary, wages, benefits, interest, or KiwiSaver or PIE still has to be sent in. |
- 9 File in myIR. Inland Revenue: the return is usually processed faster in myIR. Complete my IR3: if you cannot complete it on time, apply for an extension of time. Otherwise Inland Revenue may charge a late filing penalty. IR3G: you can also complete the return online and it will prepopulate personal details and earnings.
- 10 File even if you cannot pay yet. Inland Revenue IR240: Inland Revenue charges a late filing penalty for a late IR3. They give 30 days’ notice before charging it for an income tax return. If you complete the return within that time they will not charge the penalty. File the return. Then sort payment. Inland Revenue’s overdue returns page: they may estimate the tax you owe if you did not file by the due date. That is a default assessment.
Inland Revenue’s late filing penalties page: the income tax late filing penalty depends on net income. It is first charged at $50, then adjusted after you file.
| Net income | Late filing penalty |
|---|---|
| Less than $100,000 | $50 |
| $100,000 to $1 million | $250 |
| More than $1 million | $500 |
IR240: the $50 penalty remains payable if the return is later filed and shows a loss. First year timing, including the no provisional myth, sits in first year self employed no provisional myth.
Use case: labelled example, Dunedin photographer
Situation: part time PAYE cafe job plus invoices in their own name. Clients paid $18,400 in the year ended 31 March 2026. Allowable expenses $2,100. Net $16,300. Inland Revenue already has the cafe PAYE.
IR3: add self employment in myIR. Wait until June if wage and interest files are still landing. Show $16,300 at Question 24. Complete an IR10 for the untaxed business. Do not treat the cafe PAYE refund as the whole square up.
Action: file the IR3 by 7 July 2026 unless they have an agent or an extension of time. If File never appears, request the return in myIR. IR3G example pay date for that year is 7 February 2027 if there is tax to pay.
After you file: ACC, GST, and student loan are other clocks
Inland Revenue: they send a notice of assessment to confirm they have the return. It shows any refund or tax to pay. You can fix mistakes after you submit. You can use the disputes process if you disagree with the assessment. Update income types when a source starts or stops.
IR3G: under the Accident Compensation Act 2001, Inland Revenue supplies earnings information from the IR3 to ACC. ACC will begin invoicing self employed levies from September. Question 6 is the business industry classification code ACC uses. business.govt.nz: you receive the ACC levy invoice once you have filed your tax return. Industry rates sit in ACC work levy by industry.
business.govt.nz sole trader checklist: if you think you will earn more than $60,000 per financial year you will need to file GST returns. GST returns are not an IR3. Inland Revenue’s IR3G note on other expenses: GST registered people claim the GST portion of expenses in the GST return, not the IR3. Registration steps: register for GST in NZ.
business.govt.nz: if you have a student loan and you earn over the annual threshold of $24,128, you must make repayments. Self employed people make those repayments themselves, including with year end income tax. That is a student loan clock, not a substitute for the IR3.