How to File an IR3 in NZ 2025-26 & 2026-27 — Step-by-Step Guide (IRD myIR)

Most New Zealanders who only earn salary, wages, interest and dividends don’t need to lift a finger — IRD issues an automatic income tax assessment by late May. But if you earn rental income, run a business, hold overseas investments, or sold property inside the bright-line window, you must file an IR3 individual tax return. This guide walks through every step for the 2025-26 tax year (due 7 July 2026) and previews what changes for 2026-27.

Not sure whether you need to file? Use our IR3 filing checker — 6 questions and you’ll know. Ready to file? Work through the IR3 pre-filing checklist to gather everything myIR will ask for.

Who Must File an IR3?

You must file an IR3 for the 2025-26 tax year if, between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, you had:

• Self-employment or business income (sole trader, contractor, partnership share, LTC share)
• Rental property income (residential, commercial, short-stay)
• Overseas income — employment, dividends, interest, FIF, or foreign pension
• Shareholder-employee salary from a close company
• Estate or trust income not already taxed at source
• Taxable property sales under the bright-line rule
• Schedular payments with tax deducted at non-standard rates
• Any income where IRD couldn’t pre-fill the full picture

You’re not required to file if all your income is salary/wages (with PAYE) plus bank interest and dividends (with RWT). IRD will auto-assess you by late May and notify you via myIR.

Filing anyway can still be worthwhile if you have donations over $5, unclaimed independent earner tax credit, or expect a refund from overpaid provisional tax.

Key Deadlines

Event	2025-26 tax year	2026-27 tax year
Tax year ends	31 March 2026	31 March 2027
Auto-assessment issued (PAYE-only earners)	~late May 2026	~late May 2027
IR3 due (no tax agent)	7 July 2026	7 July 2027
IR3 due (on tax agent’s list)	31 March 2027	31 March 2028
Terminal tax due (no agent)	7 February 2027	7 February 2028
Terminal tax due (on agent’s list)	7 April 2027	7 April 2028
Provisional tax instalments (standard)	28 Aug 2026 / 15 Jan 2027 / 7 May 2027	28 Aug 2027 / 15 Jan 2028 / 7 May 2028

If you’re already registered with a tax agent before 31 March, you automatically get the extension-of-time (EOT) arrangement. Signing up after 31 March doesn’t roll back the deadline for that year.

What You Need Before You Start

Gather these before opening myIR so you’re not hunting mid-session:

Identity & access

• IRD number
• myIR login (if you don’t have one, register at my.ird.govt.nz — it takes 48 hours to activate)

Income records (most are pre-filled, but verify):

• Summary of earnings (SOE) — IRD generates this automatically from PAYE
• Bank interest certificates and RWT deducted
• Dividend statements with imputation credits
• PIE income statements (fund providers send these)
• Self-employment or rental profit-and-loss statements
• Overseas income (converted to NZD using IRD-approved rates)

Deduction records

• Donation receipts (for the separate IR526 donation tax credit claim, not on the IR3 itself)
• Income-protection insurance premiums
• Home office worked proportions (if self-employed) — see our home office expenses guide
• Vehicle logbook, depreciation schedules

Payment records

• Provisional tax already paid
• RWT credits, imputation credits, overseas tax paid (for foreign tax credit)

Step-by-Step: Filing Your IR3 in myIR

Step 1 — Log in to myIR

Go to my.ird.govt.nz and sign in. If it’s your first time filing, you may need to link your individual income tax account. IRD’s navigation changed mid-2024; the IR3 now lives under “Income tax” → “Returns and transactions” → “File return”.

Step 2 — Confirm pre-filled income

IRD pre-fills everything it already knows: PAYE salary, bank interest, dividends, NZ Super, most PIE income. Tick through each line and verify the amounts match your own records. If a figure is wrong (e.g. an employer reported incorrectly), correct it — don’t assume IRD is right.

Step 3 — Add non-prefilled income

Enter income types that IRD doesn’t pre-populate:

• Self-employment — net profit from your accounts. If your turnover is over $60k, GST-exclusive figures.
• Rental income — gross rent minus deductible expenses. Residential interest deductibility rules apply (fully deductible from 1 April 2025 onwards; earlier years had phase-out).
• Overseas income — employment, foreign dividends, FIF (FDR or CV), foreign pension. Convert to NZD using IRD’s mid-month rates or actual transaction rates.
• Schedular payments — if your tax-deducted rate wasn’t 33%, the system prompts for reconciliation.
• Bright-line taxable sales — enter the sale in the “other property income” section. Any capital gain under bright-line is fully taxable as income.

Step 4 — Claim deductions and credits

The IR3 itself only accepts deductions directly against income (self-employment expenses, rental expenses, depreciation). Tax credits like donations, IETC, and WfF go on separate forms or are auto-applied.

• Self-employment and rental deductions: entered as part of the income section
• IETC: auto-applied if you earned between $24k and $48k and weren’t on a main benefit for the full year
• Donations: file a separate IR526 claim (within 4 years) — not on the IR3

Step 5 — Review the calculated result

myIR shows your residual income tax (RIT), comparing your liability to tax already paid:

• If RIT is over $5,000, you’re in provisional tax territory for next year
• If tax paid exceeds liability → refund due
• If tax paid is less than liability → terminal tax owing on 7 February

Review every figure. Common errors surface here (double-counted PIE income, missed RWT credits).

Step 6 — Submit and pay

Once you submit, you’ll see a confirmation with your terminal-tax date. Set a calendar reminder. Pay via:

• Direct debit from myIR (one-off or by instalments)
• Online banking using your IRD number + tax code as reference
• Credit card (fee applies)

Worked Examples

Example A — Salary + bank interest + rental flat

Sarah earns $85,000 salary (PAYE $16,920 deducted), has $800 of bank interest (RWT $264 deducted), and net rental profit of $6,200 after deductible expenses.

Source	Amount
Salary	$85,000
Interest	$800
Net rental	$6,200
Taxable income	$92,000
Tax at 2025-26 rates (PAYE + MTR)	~$20,920
Tax already paid (PAYE + RWT)	$17,184
Terminal tax owing 7 Feb 2027	~$3,736

Because RIT exceeded $5,000 in a previous year (if applicable), Sarah may also need to pay 2026-27 provisional tax in three instalments.

Example B — Salary + dividends with imputation credits

Ben earns $60,000 salary (PAYE $11,020 deducted) and receives $3,000 fully imputed NZ share dividends (imputation credits $1,167).

Source	Amount
Salary	$60,000
Dividends grossed up	$4,167
Taxable income	$64,167
Tax at 2025-26 rates	~$12,820
PAYE paid	$11,020
Imputation credits	$1,167
RWT on dividends	$117
Refund / terminal tax	~$484 refund

IRD would have auto-assessed Ben if he hadn’t had foreign dividends — but because imputation credits can’t exceed the tax otherwise payable on the dividend grossed-up amount, the IR3 is still the cleanest way to claim the refund if auto-assessment doesn’t pick it up.

Example C — Sole trader with home office

Maia is a freelance designer with $75,000 gross invoices. Business expenses $14,000, home office deduction $3,450 (see our home office guide).

Source	Amount
Gross self-employment income	$75,000
Less deductible expenses	($14,000)
Less home office	($3,450)
Net self-employment income	$57,550
Tax at 2025-26 rates	~$10,685
ACC earner + working safer levies	~$1,250
Total owing 7 Feb 2027	~$11,935

Maia owes over $5,000 in RIT, so she enters the provisional tax regime for 2026-27. See our provisional tax calculator.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overlooking auto-filled income — always verify pre-filled PAYE, interest, and dividends. Employers and banks occasionally report wrong amounts.
• Mixing up gross and net rental — claim only deductible expenses; insurance for chattels only, not contents; principal repayments are never deductible.
• Missing overseas income — even tiny overseas bank interest or foreign share dividends are taxable. IRD shares data with ~100+ countries under CRS.
• Forgetting bright-line sales — if the property was owned under 2 years (sales from 1 July 2024) or under the previous 5/10-year rules, the sale is reportable even if you lived there most of the time.
• Late filing without an agent — the $50 penalty is small, but triggers IRD scrutiny on the return itself and on subsequent years.
• Claiming IETC when ineligible — if you received any WfF, main benefit, or NZ Super for any part of the year, you can’t claim IETC.

Next Steps After Filing

Once your IR3 is in:

1. Save the PDF of your submission from myIR
2. Diarise terminal tax (7 February 2027) and provisional tax instalments if RIT exceeded $5,000
3. Keep records for 7 years — IRD can request them any time
4. Review your withholding — if you’re regularly owing tax, check your tax code, ACC levies, and whether your employer uses the correct secondary-income code

Useful Calculators

• IR3 filing checker — do you actually need to file?
• IR3 pre-filing checklist — gather everything before you log in
• NZ tax refund timing 2025-26 — when IRD pays out
• 10 common IR3 mistakes — errors to avoid before submitting
• Tax refund estimator — expected refund or balance owing
• Terminal tax / RIT reconciliation — confirm your terminal tax figure
• Provisional tax calculator — if your RIT exceeds $5,000
• Self-employment tax calculator — end-of-year sole trader tax
• FIF tax calculator — overseas share tax (FDR vs CV)

Sources

• IR3 individual tax return — IRD
• End-of-year tax dates — IRD
• Automatic income tax assessment — IRD
• Bright-line property rule — IRD