Payroll giving schemes can begin in NZ workplaces from 7 January
Office for the Community & Voluntary Sector (OCVS),
New Zealand workplaces can now introduce voluntary payroll giving schemes to enable employees to receive immediate tax credits on donations to approved organisations.
Payroll giving is an easy way for employees to support good causes as it enables donations to go directly from a person's pay to a chosen community organisation. Payroll giving will be administered through the PAYE tax system, so people whose employers sign up for the scheme will receive the tax benefits of their donations each payday, without having to present donation receipts or wait to claim at the end of a tax year.
In November 2009, every employer received a letter and brochure explaining the basic changes. Employers with five or more staff also received a CD-Rom including the Payroll Giving Guide (IR617) from Inland Revenue and a selection of promotional posters. All this material is available on the Inland Revenue website and from the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector website.
How workplaces choose to set up payroll giving is very flexible - it is entirely voluntary for both employers and staff - and employers can limit the scheme to a few community organisations if they choose to.
Some workplaces are planning to start with a short list of groups to support, so they can keep things simple for the initial introduction of the payroll giving. The Office for the Community & Voluntary Sector (OCVS) has heard of workplaces where staff have voted for which groups to support, and other situations where donors (who are employers) have decided to offer their staff the opportunity to give to that chosen group.
Some workplaces will be introducing payroll software that makes it easy for staff to change their own payroll donations - giving them the opportunity to donate to any one of the 18,000 plus donee organisations registered with Inland Revenue.
Find out more about payroll giving, and how you can be part of it, at: http://www.ocvs.govt.nz/work-programme/three-key-projects/payroll-giving.html