Registering Your New Business with IRD
Registering your New Business with IRD
If you have decided to start a business, your first question may be whether you must register the business with IRD.
Let’s first clarify what a business is. A business is an activity carried on to make money. Your business will be owned and operated by a legal entity such as an individual (you) or a company. It is the legal entity operating the business that must be registered with IRD. The business activity itself cannot be separately registered as it is not a legal entity and therefore cannot form contracts in its own name.
If you start a business under your personal ownership, rather than using a separate entity, you are a sole-trader. You are the legal entity running the business and, so long as you have an IRD number, you are already registered with IRD.
If you form a new legal entity to run your business, such as a company, partnership or trust, that entity will need to register with IRD and get an IRD number.
If the legal entity is not already GST registered, and the new business is expected to sell more than $60,000 of goods or services per year, it will generally have to register for Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Contact Robb with any questions.