IRD overdue notices: why two automated reminders now count

Most business owners are used to automated messages from IRD. A reminder that a return is due. A note that a payment is late. It’s easy to file them under “I’ll deal with that later”. Since 2026, that habit has become risky, because those routine-looking notices now carry legal weight.

What changed about overdue notices in 2026?

Before IRD can share a company’s unpaid tax with a credit reporting agency, it has to have made reasonable efforts to collect it. IRD’s 2026 update simplified that test: reasonable effort is now met if IRD has sent at least two automated overdue tax notices to the company, including notices sent in myIR. Personal contact is no longer required (IRD).

In plain terms, two automated messages you didn’t read can be enough for IRD to move toward a Notice of Intent and then credit reporting, if the debt meets the thresholds.

Where do the notices go?

To the company, mostly through myIR. A chartered accountancy firm writing in June 2026 pointed out that formal notices go to the company in myIR, not to the tax agent (Graham Brown & Co, secondary). If your accountant handles your returns, they may not be watching your collection correspondence.

Make sure:

• at least one director has working myIR access;
• the company’s email and postal details in myIR are current;
• notifications from myIR aren’t going to an inbox nobody checks; and
• someone looks at the account every week while any balance is overdue.

What do penalties look like once a payment is late?

For most taxes, IRD charges a 1% late payment penalty the day after the due date and a further 4% on the seventh day after the due date if tax is still unpaid. A further 1% applies each month on some taxes, but not on GST or income tax, including provisional tax (IRD late payment penalties). Employer deductions such as PAYE follow a separate, steeper structure. See late payment penalties for the detail.

If it’s your first late payment within two years, IRD may give you a grace period with a new due date. Miss that and the penalty is charged from the original date.

Use-of-money interest also runs daily on unpaid tax. We don’t print the rate because it changes; IRD publishes it.

Already had two or more overdue notices? See whether funding can clear the balance before it escalates. No credit check to enquire.

What comes after overdue notices?

IRD’s escalation generally runs: notices, then calls, then visits, then bank deductions, then insolvency action. In 2025, IRD’s GST and employer-debt campaign used three contact attempts, then a Community Compliance visit, then a bank deduction where other options weren’t suitable (IRD). Our escalation timeline maps each step.

What should you do when the first notice arrives?

Your situation	Sensible first step
You can pay in full now	Pay it and keep the confirmation
You can pay within a few months	Apply for a formal instalment arrangement in myIR
The amount is large or growing	Find out quickly whether a loan could clear it
You think the amount is wrong	Ask your accountant to check, and tell IRD you’re querying it
Returns are outstanding	File them so the real balance is known

Whatever you choose, don’t stay silent. Silence is what moves a company down IRD’s escalation path.

Why do notices sometimes show amounts you didn’t expect?

Common reasons include provisional tax instalments missed or underestimated, a GST return processed with an adjustment, penalties and interest added since your last look, or a reassessment after a review. Our page on why you owe IRD walks through the usual causes and how to read your myIR statement.

How do you read a myIR overdue notice?

Each notice usually shows the tax type, the period, the original amount and what has been added since. Look for three things:

1. The period. Is this one GST return, or several stacked together?
2. The split between tax, penalties and interest. If penalties and interest are a large share, the debt is old and growing.
3. Any instruction or date. Some notices say what IRD will do next or by when.

If something doesn’t make sense, ask your accountant before you pay or argue. Sometimes a return has been processed with an adjustment you weren’t expecting, or a payment has been allocated to the wrong period.

Can you set up alerts so you don’t miss them?

Yes. In myIR, check the notification settings and make sure email alerts go to an address that a director actually reads. Some owners set up a shared mailbox for tax correspondence that both the director and the bookkeeper can see. It’s a small change that, under the 2026 rules, can make the difference between an easy fix and a credit report.

What if you’ve already missed several notices?

Don’t panic, and don’t keep waiting. Log in, download the full statement of account and act this week. If IRD has already called or written about next steps, respond in writing so there’s a record that you’ve engaged. Our options checker gives you a calm, ranked list of next steps based on the letters you’ve had.

Deal with it at the first notice

If you’ve had overdue notices from IRD and the balance isn’t going away, start a quick enquiry. It won’t touch your credit file to ask, your details aren’t passed to a pool of lenders, and a real person will call you. Please give us the balance and the tax types as accurately as you can, so we can tell you straight away whether funding is a sensible way to clear it.