Find out about: Have someone act on your behalf

Nominate someone to act on your behalf

Did you know that you can authorise another person to act with us on your behalf to help you with your tax affairs?

A nominated person is useful when you:

• know you're going overseas for an extended period
• would like someone other than a tax agent to look after your tax affairs
• aren't able to contact us during work hours due to personal circumstances
• just find it easier to have a friend or relative deal with us
• have a wage clerk or in-house accountant dealing with your tax affairs.

By nominating a person, you are appointing that person as your agent to deal with us on your behalf. Having a nominated person allows us to talk to that person about your tax affairs.

That person can be an individual or a non-individual. (a non-individual must be a separate legal entity such as a company, incorporated society or incorporated charitable trust).

A partnership or unincorporated club are examples of non-individual entities that are not separate legal entities so can't be a nominated person.

If you're a child support customer you can authorise us in writing, or verbally, to release information from your child support records. An authorised person can discuss your child support affairs, but can't authorise forms or take other actions on your behalf. Please call us on 0800 221 221 if you want more information about this.

How to nominate someone to act on your behalf

You can:

• complete an Elect someone to act on your behalf (IR597) form, or
• request one by phoning our self-service line 0800 257 773 (remember to have your IRD number handy), or
• phone us on one of the following numbers.

If you are overseas, call one of these numbers:

We'll ask you for the following details so please have them handy to speed up the process:

• the full name of the nominated person
• the tax types you want the nominated person to act on
• the period for which the nominated person is to have authority to act
• the nominated person's IRD number (if you have it).

Why should you have a nominated person?

A nominated person is useful when you:

• know you're going overseas for an extended period
• would like someone other than a tax agent to look after your tax affairs
• aren't able to contact us during work hours due to personal circumstances
• just find it easier to have a friend or relative deal with us
• have a wage clerk or in-house accountant dealing with your tax affairs.

Who can set up a nominated person?

You can't set up a nominated person by email for security reasons.

What does a nominated person have access to?

You can have a nominated person for just one tax type (eg, income tax) or, if you're running a business, you can nominate someone to have access to several (or even all) of your tax types. A nominated person can also receive all your statements, refunds and other correspondence.

Validating a nominated person

When the nominated person rings us, we'll confirm their identity by getting them to tell us details about themselves. Once this screening process is completed, we can discuss your tax affairs with them.

Cancelling a nominated person

If you no longer want a nominated person to have access to your records, you can cancel their authority at any time.

Your responsibilities

Having a nominated person doesn't change your responsibilities. By law you're still personally responsible for your tax obligations.