Taking your Australian business to New Zealand

New Zealand is the most natural first export market for a lot of Australian businesses. Same language, similar laws, familiar customers, a short flight and a trade agreement that’s been smoothing the way since 1983. But “similar” isn’t “identical”, and the differences tend to pop up just when you’re busiest. Here’s Mr’s checklist for Aussies heading across the ditch.

Are you selling into NZ, or carrying on business there?

This is the first fork in the road.

• Selling into New Zealand from Australia: you’re in Australia, shipping goods or delivering services to Kiwi customers. Your Australian business does the selling.
• Carrying on business in New Zealand: you’ve got a presence there, such as staff, premises, a warehouse, or ongoing activities on the ground.

The second one triggers registration. The Companies Office says an overseas company must register within 10 working days of starting its business activities in New Zealand. The first one may not, but GST can still apply in some cases (see below). The line between the two isn’t always obvious, so get advice for your exact setup.

Register the Aussie company or start a Kiwi one?

Option	What it means	Suits	Catch
Register on the Overseas Register	Your Australian company is recorded as doing business in NZ	Keeping one entity; testing the market	All NZ activity sits inside the Australian company
Incorporate a New Zealand company	A separate NZ company, often owned by the Australian one	Building a local track record; local contracts; local borrowing	More admin: separate accounts, returns and registrations
Trade personally	Sole trader or partnership in NZ	Very small or early tests	Personal liability; harder to scale

The Overseas Register costs $130 plus GST, and for Australian companies the director details come straight from ASIC. Incorporating a New Zealand company costs $118.74 plus GST, and needs at least one director who lives in New Zealand, or who lives in Australia and is a current director of an Australian company. That second route means most Australian owners can be the sole director of their Kiwi company.

See ASIC vs the Companies Office for the full register comparison.

What about New Zealand GST?

New Zealand GST is 15%, and IRD’s guidance for non-residents says that if you carry on an activity supplying goods or services in New Zealand over $60,000 a year, you may need to register. There are separate regimes for remote services (like digital products) supplied to New Zealanders, and for low value imported goods sold to New Zealand consumers.

On the Australian side, exports to New Zealand are generally GST-free if the goods leave Australia within 60 days of payment or invoice, whichever comes first.

That’s a lot of GST rules in one paragraph. Our GST on trans-Tasman sales page lays out who charges what, and when.

Expansion costs landing before New Zealand revenue does? Mr’s people look at growth funding case by case, and asking doesn’t touch your credit file. Choose your country and start your enquiry.

What does ANZCERTA do for you?

The Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement is the reason trans-Tasman trade feels easy. DFAT says goods meeting the agreement’s rules of origin have been traded free of duty and quantitative import restrictions since 1 July 1990, and services were brought in from January 1989. It also provides for mutual recognition of goods and occupations, so many registered occupations can work on the other side without fully requalifying.

ANZCERTA doesn’t remove GST, company registration or employment law. It just removes many of the trade barriers.

How do you fund the move?

Expanding costs money before it makes money: stock, staff, a lease, travel, marketing, and the gap while New Zealand customers pay on their terms. Funding options depend heavily on which entity is borrowing and where the security is:

• The Australian business borrows to fund the expansion, using Australian trading history and, if needed, Australian property security. This usually starts on the Australian side.
• A new New Zealand company borrows in its own name. Being young, it may lean on director guarantees, the parent’s support or New Zealand property security. This usually starts on the New Zealand side.
• A mix: an Australian property-secured facility for the set-up, then local New Zealand working capital once the Kiwi entity has its own track record.

On either side, property-secured funding spans $20,000 to $5,000,000, while unsecured and cash-flow facilities for trading businesses usually land between $5,000 and $500,000. Our which country to apply in page goes through more combinations.

Illustrative example

Illustrative only. A Melbourne coffee equipment supplier wins a distribution deal covering the North Island. It incorporates a New Zealand subsidiary with the founder as sole director (she directs the Australian parent, so she meets the residency rule), leases a small Auckland warehouse and registers for New Zealand GST. The set-up costs are funded on the Australian side against the founder’s Melbourne property. Twelve months later, with a year of Kiwi bank statements, the New Zealand company looks at its own working capital facility locally.

Your first-month checklist

• Decide: Overseas Register or New Zealand company.
• Register within 10 working days of starting activities.
• Check New Zealand GST registration and any remote services or low value goods rules.
• Open a New Zealand business bank account to keep the numbers clean.
• Understand New Zealand employment obligations, including KiwiSaver, if you’ll hire.
• Map your funding: which entity, which country, what security.

Ready to fund the crossing?

Heading across the ditch is a cracking adventure (Mr packs a spare moustache comb). When it’s time to fund it, start with a short enquiry: no credit check is involved, your details don’t get passed from lender to lender, and someone who understands trans-Tasman setups reads it. Make it clear on the form which entity is borrowing and where any property sits, and the answer will fit. Choose Australia or New Zealand to begin.