Received an IRD Notice of Intent? Your 30 days, used well

A Notice of Intent is short, formal and easy to underestimate. It says IRD intends to share information about your company’s unpaid tax with credit reporting agencies. What it really gives you is 30 days. Used well, that’s enough time to change the outcome.

What is a Notice of Intent?

It’s the formal warning step in IRD’s credit-reporting process for company tax debt. Under the rules in force from 1 April 2026, it applies to companies whose GST, PAYE or income tax debt meets the reporting thresholds: over $150,000 and 90 days overdue, or unpaid for more than 12 months and 30% or more of assessable income (IRD). Our credit reporting page covers those thresholds in detail.

The notice gives the company 30 days before information can be shared.

How is it delivered, and why does that matter?

Before 2026, a Notice of Intent had to be served on every director, usually by courier. That’s no longer required. IRD now issues it to the company in myIR or by standard post.

That’s a big practical change. In many small companies, myIR is checked by the accountant at tax time, or by one director who’s busy on the tools. A notice can sit unread for a week or more. If you’ve had overdue notices recently, make sure someone checks myIR every few days. Our page on overdue notices explains the earlier warnings that come before this one.

Does engaging really make a difference?

IRD’s own figures suggest it does. In its October to December 2025 quarterly report, IRD said it sent 60 Notices of Intent to businesses owing more than $150,000. Thirty-four were credit-reported and had liquidation pursued. The other 26, or 43%, engaged and were working to resolve their debt (IRD).

Notice the pairing: credit reporting and liquidation action went together for companies that didn’t engage. A Notice of Intent isn’t only about your credit file. It’s a signal that IRD is preparing to escalate.

What does “engaging” actually look like?

A call to say you’re working on it isn’t enough on its own. Real engagement usually means one of these:

Route	What you provide	Result if accepted
Pay in full	Payment by a date you commit to	Debt cleared; nothing to report
Formal instalment arrangement	Application in myIR, plus forecasts and financial details if asked	Agreed plan; credit reporting conditions generally not met while it’s kept
Part-payment plus arrangement	Lump sum now, balance by instalments	Debt reduced, possibly below the thresholds
Relief application	IRD’s relief form, with financial information	Assessed by IRD; companies can’t use serious hardship

Whatever you agree, get it in writing.

Got a Notice of Intent? Find out in one call whether funding can clear it. There’s no credit check to enquire.

What should you gather in the first week?

• the Notice of Intent and any earlier overdue notices;
• your myIR statement by tax type and period;
• three to six months of bank statements;
• current management accounts or the latest financial statements;
• a simple 12-month cash flow forecast (IRD’s IR591 form is a useful template, see our IR591 guide); and
• details of any property that could support a loan.

Should you pay in full or arrange to pay?

It depends on the amount, your cash flow and IRD’s appetite. An arrangement keeps money in the business but use-of-money interest keeps running, and a missed instalment can unwind it. Paying in full with a loan ends IRD’s process completely but adds a loan cost. Many companies at this stage find that IRD wants more than they can show in a forecast, which makes funding the more reliable route. Our arrangement vs loan cost check puts both in dollars.

An illustrative example

Illustrative only. Not a real client and not an offer.

A Canterbury agricultural contractor’s company owes about $175,000 in GST and income tax, more than 90 days overdue. The Notice of Intent arrives in myIR while the directors are flat out during harvest, and the accountant spots it nine days later. With three weeks left, the company uses a property-secured loan over a director’s home to pay IRD in full, with independent legal advice for the director. Nothing is reported, and IRD’s collection file is closed.

Who needs to know inside the business?

Every director, your accountant and anyone who runs the company’s bank account. Under the old rules, every director would have seen the notice because it was served on them personally. Now one person may be the only one who knows. Directors share legal responsibilities, so a quiet conversation in week one is far better than a surprise in week five.

What if the debt is disputed?

Credit reporting is aimed at debt that isn’t in dispute. If your accountant believes an assessment is wrong, raise it with IRD immediately and in writing, and ask how the dispute affects the Notice of Intent. Don’t use a weak dispute as a delaying tactic. It won’t stop other collection steps, and the penalties and interest keep running if the debt turns out to be correct.

Use the 30 days

If your company has received a Notice of Intent, send us the details today. It doesn’t involve a credit check to ask, your enquiry isn’t distributed to other lenders, and a real person will call you back promptly. Tell us the date on the notice, the balance and any property you could use as accurately as you can, so we can confirm quickly whether full payment inside the 30 days is achievable.