In December 2015, we started a GST pilot in which 1,400 businesses sent their GST returns from Xero direct to Inland Revenue. The very successful first phase of the pilot has just wrapped up. The small businesses who participated were enthusiastic:

THANK YOU @Xero Loving the ability to file GST directly with the IRD. So quick and easy #lovethethingsyoudo

— Micro Manager (@micromanagerapp) December 15, 2015

Just tried the automatic GST filling feature to IRD in @xero. Awesome!

— Dave Quested (@davequested) February 18, 2016

The new GST filing service gives business owners peace of mind. Xero not only calculates GST, it also looks for and automatically includes transactions that were missed off the previous GST return, giving businesses assurance that they capture everything. Business owners can have confidence that accurate data is successfully transferred directly to Inland Revenue with almost no human effort.

The great news is that the original pilot was available for customers filing GST only – but when we roll it out to everyone, the service will also be available to those customers who file GST and provisional tax together.

Big thanks to the customers helping us test this new service. We’re well into the second phase, and can’t wait to offer this service to all of our New Zealand businesses – we’ll let you know as soon as it’s available.

It’s true that good things take time, and we’ve been working hard with the Inland Revenue team for years to jointly create and start delivering services like this. Inland Revenue have a great team who are genuinely excited about working with software providers to make it easy for small businesses to meet their obligations.