Moving away from cheques
As you have likely heard, from 1 March 2020 the NZ Inland Revenue will stop accepting payment by cheque, including cheques dated after 1 March 2020.
In preparation for this change, they have drafted changes to their standard practice statement. You can have your say on the proposed change by going to the website ird.govt.nz/public-consultation/current and downloading ED0221. The consultation period closes on 13 December 2019.
Paying over the counter at Westpac - mandatory barcodes
Customers can choose to pay their taxes over the counter at a Westpac branch/smart ATM even if they don’t bank with Westpac. From 1 July 2020, all payments at Westpac must be accompanied by a barcode. The barcode is a more reliable way of passing your details to Westpac and will prevent your payment going to the wrong place in the account, or potentially even the wrong person’s account.
NZ Inland Revenue is adding barcodes to notifications where they're requesting you to make a payment. If you misplace your barcode, you can generate one using the barcode generator on their website. You will need your IRD number, the tax type and the period of the payment. You can then either print or show it to Westpac staff on your phone.