New legislation for real estate businesses.

From 1 January 2019, real estate businesses are subject to New Zealand’s anti-money laundering regime contained in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (the Act).

Under the Act we will need to obtain and verify information from new and existing clients and the people connected with them for the purposes of engaging with us. We may also need to collect this information about other people we occasionally do business with. We have not needed to collect much of this information previously.

When you engage with us we will ask you for:

  • your full name; and
  • your date of birth; and
  • your address.

To confirm these details, documents such as your passport or driver’s licence, and documents that show your address (like a current bank statement or utility bill) will be needed. If you are seeing us about company or trust business, we will need information about the company or trust (including the people associated with it such as directors and shareholders, trustees and beneficiaries). We may also need to ask you for further information.

The website linked to below will assist you in understanding the information we require, and why we require it, and our Client Forms will help you through our client on-boarding process.

Useful Documents

  • Click here to view the New Zealand Government website – Keep Our Money Clean

Bright-line Rules

If you sell a residential property you have owned for less than 10 years you may have to pay income tax on any gain on the sale, unless an exclusion or rollover relief applies. This is the bright-line property rule and it also applies to New Zealand tax residents who buy overseas residential properties.

  • Click here to read more about the Bright-line Property Rule