Add a trust settlement

Overview

From the 2022 tax year onward, trusts that are required to comply with trust reporting requirements need to declare all settlements made during the year. In the first year that a trust is subject to trust reporting, details of all historic settlors (but not the amounts of their settlements) need to be declared.

Please refer to Inland Revenue’s operational statement on reporting requirements for domestic trusts for guidance on Inland Revenue’s approach to the information required to be disclosed.

Add a settlement

1. From the entity's tax year summary, in the navigation bar select Workpapers > Settlements
2. Select New 
3. Enter the details of the settlement
4. Select Save. 

Settlements can also be imported from Microsoft Excel. Select the Export button to download the template, enter the information and save the file, then select Import to import the file to the software.

Settlor details

• Tax jurisdiction – this is the jurisdiction of tax residency of the settlor
• IRD number or tax identification number
  • If the settlor’s tax jurisdiction is New Zealand, a valid IRD number must be provided.
  • If the settlor’s tax jurisdiction is overseas, a Tax Identification Number must be provided. If no Tax ID number is available a reason must be provided by selecting one of the following options:
    • Jurisdiction does not issue tax ID numbers, or
    • Tax ID Number not required in this jurisdiction
• Date of birth or commencement – this is the date of birth for individual settlors, or the date of commencement for non-individual settlors, such as the date of incorporation for companies or the date a trust was formed.

Settlement amounts

• For settlements during the year that have a value, enter the value next to the appropriate category. From 2025 onwards, nil value settlements are no longer required to be disclosed and have been removed from the software. For more information, refer to the IR6 guide, page 6 & 7 under the heading Changes.
• If the category is Other, provide a description of the nature of the other settlements.

Exempt trusts

Trusts that are exempt from the financial reporting requirements are not required to file settlor information. 

1. From the entity's tax year summary, in the navigation bar select Workpapers > Financial disclosures.
2. For the question "The trust is exempt from complying with the trust reporting requirements" select Yes.

When exempt, details of the settlor information will not be included in the tax return.

Related articles

Trust financial disclosures

Import distributions and settlements

Set a trust or estate type