IRD Debt: Approval is easy, but what does it cost?
A few weeks ago, I found myself staring at yet another set of company records where IRD debt had metastasised from a manageable shortfall into something terminal. The pattern is depressingly familiar: a slow month, a decision to defer PAYE “just this once,” and then, six months later, a balance that’s doubled while the directors […]
Shareholder current accounts – An insolvency practitioners perspective
Notes on Article:Released 4 December 2025IRD notes the loan will become income once it is not repayable. Shareholder current accounts A Shareholder loan account or Shareholder Current Account is a running account between a shareholder of a company and the company itself. A running account is the sum of, broadly speaking, the components of a […]
Compromising with creditors: How part XIV compromises work
In today’s business environment, it is increasingly rare to find a company operating without some level of debt. Ambitious growth plans, tight margins, and unexpected shocks often lead healthy businesses into distress. When financial pressure builds, whether due to misfortune, loss of a major customer, poor cashflow management, or external market downturns, directors may feel […]
Macro snapshot and insolvency tailwinds for 2026
The macro picture behind a rising wave of business failures is evident in the latest September 2025 quarter data released by Stats NZ Employment Total filled jobs fell from 2,256,000 in September 2024 to approximately 2,234,000 in September 2025, a 1.0% year-on-year decline (-0.99%) and 3.8% below the peak levels seen in December 2023, indicating […]
Voidable transactions – but what is a transaction?
Under the Companies Act 1993, the liquidator of a company in liquidation has the power to set aside certain transactions if the transaction resulted in the person or company receiving more than they would have in the liquidation of the company. If the transaction is successfully set aside by the liquidator, then the transaction can […]
Access and authority: A Liquidator’s power to obtain information
The principal duty of a liquidator, under s 253 of the Companies Act 1993, is to take possession of, realise, and distribute the company’s assets, or their proceeds, for the benefit of the company’s creditors. To do that job effectively, the law must equip the liquidator with robust investigative powers. Sections 261-266 of the Act […]
The importance of providing supporting documents when disputing a debt with a liquidator
When a company goes into liquidation, debtors are often faced with statutory demands and claims from the liquidator. These demands are not designed to be ordinary debt collection tools. Rather, under the Companies Act 1993 (the Act), their purpose is to establish whether a company is insolvent. With this in mind, statutory demands are appropriate […]
Personal insolvencies – Bankruptcy, No-asset procedures & Debt repayment orders
With corporate insolvency procedures at recent highs, it pays to take a look at the personal side of insolvency in the current market. Personal insolvencies in New Zealand are managed exclusively by the Official Assignee and the Insolvency and Trustee Service (except personal receiverships and creditor compromises). The main procedures consist of Bankruptcies, No-asset procedures […]
New Zealand’s Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) takes effect
On 1 July 2025, the DCS became effective in New Zealand, providing coverage of up to $100,000 per depositor, per licensed deposit taker (including banks, finance companies, and credit unions) in the case of a financial institution’s failure. The list of the licensed deposit takers can be found on the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s […]
Understanding overdrawn current accounts
What is a current account? A current account records the transactions between a company and its director or shareholder. An overdrawn current account occurs when a director or shareholder withdraws more money than they have put into the company. If a company becomes insolvent, the liquidator may treat the drawings as a loan to the […]
