New Zealand: If your claim is reviewed

Inland Revenue's disputes process has deadlines: two months to respond to a notice of proposed adjustment it sends you, four months to send your own if you disagree with an assessment. Before you reply to anything, read your engagement letter to see what help it provides, tell your adviser the same day, and take advice from someone who can see the letter and the claim. This page describes the process in general terms from Inland Revenue's own pages; it is not a guide to handling an audit or a dispute, and nothing here replaces advice on your own case.

In New Zealand, general approval of the R&D activities is the step Inland Revenue describes before the claim. You apply, free of charge, and Inland Revenue reviews the application before your R&D supplementary return is due. It says general approval is intended to give certainty that the activities are eligible, and it does not accept late applications in any of the timelines.1Source 1Inland Revenue, Applying for general approval on your R&D activities (8 December 2025). The claim itself is the R&D supplementary return, filed within 30 days of the due date for your income tax return. From the 2020 to 2021 year the activity information self-populates from the general approval. Inland Revenue begins its evaluation once it has both the income tax return and the supplementary return; a return filed more than a year after its due date is not eligible.2Source 2Inland Revenue, Claim research and development tax credits (28 April 2021); Research and development tax incentive due dates (1 April 2026).

Inland Revenue describes an audit as a check of tax and business records to make sure you have paid the right amount of tax; after an audit you may get a refund or have to pay more tax.3Source 3Inland Revenue, Audits (6 May 2026). The Inland Revenue page read for this page does not say how you are told an audit is starting or what Inland Revenue sends at the end; its audits guide, IR297, is linked from that page and is the place to check. If the credit is reduced, the interest and shortfall penalty rules on the your responsibility page apply, and a voluntary disclosure before the first notice of an audit reduces a shortfall penalty.4Source 4Inland Revenue, Shortfall penalties (30 September 2020) and Lowering your shortfall penalty (17 June 2021).

The formal disputes process starts with a notice of proposed adjustment. Inland Revenue may issue one if it disagrees with a return you filed and the issue is not resolved with you; if you disagree with a notice Inland Revenue has sent, you send a notice of response within two months. If you disagree with an assessment or decision, you can send your own notice of proposed adjustment within four months. A statement of position is used to finalise each side's argument, and the formal process makes sure your rights are protected if the matter goes to court.5Source 5Inland Revenue, Disputes (6 October 2025). Each of these has a deadline, and the choice is a matter for advice. Complaints about Inland Revenue's own service go through its separate Complaints Management Service, which is not the route for disagreeing with an assessment.6Source 6Inland Revenue, Formal complaints (10 August 2026).

What your adviser must do depends on the engagement letter, which is why the review and audit support clause matters before you sign. The useful things an adviser does are these.

• Get the general approval application in on time, since late applications are not accepted.
• Produce the activity records and the cost workings quickly and in order when Inland Revenue asks.
• Help the company respond to a notice of proposed adjustment within the two months, with the people who did the work.
• Correct any error through a voluntary disclosure before an audit is notified, if that is the right course on advice.
• Tell you plainly what a proposed adjustment means and what your options are.

Inland Revenue treats professional advice you received as a factor in whether reasonable care was taken, not as a defence that moves a shortfall penalty.4Source 4Inland Revenue, Shortfall penalties (30 September 2020) and Lowering your shortfall penalty (17 June 2021). If the adviser's help is charged by the hour, agree an estimate and a ceiling before the work starts. The companies under review page and the claim reduced on review page cover the fee side.

• Your responsibility and complaints about an adviser in New Zealand
• How do you handle a tax authority review? and is review support included?
• Getting independent advice

Sources

1. Inland Revenue, Applying for general approval on your R&D activities (8 December 2025).  Back
2. Inland Revenue, Claim research and development tax credits (28 April 2021); Research and development tax incentive due dates (1 April 2026).  Back
3. Inland Revenue, Audits (6 May 2026).  Back
4. Inland Revenue, Shortfall penalties (30 September 2020) and Lowering your shortfall penalty (17 June 2021).   Back
5. Inland Revenue, Disputes (6 October 2025).  Back
6. Inland Revenue, Formal complaints (10 August 2026).  Back