Companies Office fees and levies are changing
Annual return and company registration fees paid after 1 September 2020 will include an insolvency practitioner regulatory regime levy.
The Insolvency Practitioners Regulation Act 2019 established a regulatory regime for insolvency practitioners in New Zealand. Under the new regime, the Registrar of Companies will have significant responsibilities, including setting up and running the online register of insolvency practitioners, and monitoring the regulatory system. The costs of these new responsibilities will be met by fees and levies.
Fees payable by licensed insolvency practitioners to their accredited body
Insolvency practitioners will each pay a licence fee of $165 (plus GST) when a licence is issued, and an annual confirmation fee of $105 (plus GST). While insolvency practitioners will be subject to new regulatory requirements – and must demonstrate a prescribed level of competence – they will also benefit from the increased confidence in insolvency practitioners generally.
Both the licence and annual confirmation fees will be payable initially to the insolvency practitioner’s accredited body, which will pass the fees on to the Registrar. Additional professional fees may also be payable directly to the insolvency practitioner’s accredited body.
New levy payable when incorporating a company or filing company annual returns
All registered companies will pay a small levy to support the insolvency practitioner regulatory system. All companies will benefit from the introduction of the regime, whether as creditors, or when they require insolvency services themselves. The insolvency practitioner regulatory system levy is $1 (plus GST) per company, per year. This levy will be payable annually at the time the company files its annual return. $1 (plus GST) will also be collected alongside fees for the registration of new companies. These insolvency levies will be in addition to other company and financial system levies.
As part of MBIE’s periodic reviews of the Companies Office costs and fees, the insolvency practitioner regulation scheme will be reviewed in 2 years’ time to ensure that it is operating fairly and efficiently. Any changes to fees or the levy will be implemented at the beginning of 2022/23.