Fri, 23 Apr 2004

Companies fees reduced for online filing

Nearly 300,000 companies will no longer have to pay to file annual returns online with the Companies Office, Commerce Minister Margaret Wilson announced today.

The cost of filing an online annual return, currently $15, will be eliminated from July 1. About 295,800 companies are expected to benefit.

"This is great news for many of New Zealand's companies, especially small businesses. The government is committed to making it easier to do business. We want to take advantage of every opportunity we have to reduce unnecessary costs to business," Margaret Wilson said.

"All limited liability companies must file an annual return. As 87% of companies file their annual return online we anticipate businesses will save about $4.6 million each year on this service alone.

"Providing online services to business means we can take advantage of efficiencies not available through manual processing. Our e-government work makes a commitment to increasing the availability and useability of online services across the whole of government.

"The Companies Office can reduce these fees because of the volume of companies taking advantage of online services. It is only right that we pass these savings back to business owners."

Other fee reductions on electronic services will also take effect on July 1: searching for information about a company halves from $2 to $1 Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) registration reduces by 40% from $5 to $3 PPSR searches by financing statement registration number reduce from $1.50 to $1 full PPSR searches reduce by a third from $3 to $1.About 340,000 companies are registered with the New Zealand Companies Office. Access to online services is available at www.companies.govt.nz, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Companies can pay for services by direct debit or by credit card.

This is the fourth fee reduction by the Companies Office since it introduced online services in 1996. Fees for manual filing and for other online services will remain the same.

ENDS

© Scoop Media