The Taranaki tech company championing the future of tax

MEDIA RELEASE

Business NZ’s tax working group report released a paper today, “Future of Tax Administration in New Zealand”, citing Jobhop as an example of how partnering with software companies can improve our tax administration system.  

The paper encompasses the group’s recommendations for making our tax system low cost, fair, and easy to comply with. Harnessing the benefits of automation is one way to help drive down risks and costs. 

One of the first companies to automate by-the-hour tax filing was Taranaki-based software company Jobhop.  The team behind the registered Financial Services Provider worked closely with Inland Revenue to automate tax filing directly for third party contractors. 

“Thanks to the team at IRD, we made it happen,” says Gordon Heggie, Managing Director of Jobhop.   

Johbhop is an online platform connecting people with work and facilitating their payment on the same day.  The system smart-matches people looking for work with local jobs.  

As soon as the job’s done, the worker’s pay is sent directly to their bank account and withholding tax automatically deducted.  Four times daily, Jobhop’s system sends a secure file package to IRD, so that each individual’s tax is automatically filed.   

Because Jobhop’s workers (called “Jobhoppers”) are sole trading, they’re required to keep their own tax records.  Jobhop automates this process by directly filing each individual’s taxes with IRD.   

“Automated tax filing is a way to keep people safe and not create poverty.” says Heggie.   

This helps encourage rather than penalise those who are moving into employment, a key consideration of Business NZ’s Tax Group.  

Heggie sees same-day payment and tax filing as part of the transformation to future-proof our tax system. Jobhop automatically generates invoices and remittances, but Heggie would also like to see same-day expense claims become a reality, with automatic refunds. 

“Our mission is for everyone in New Zealand to have the opportunity to work, no matter how big or small the job and to minimise the administration.  Automatic tax filing is just another way of empowering people to make employment choices that work for them.”     

 

29 November 2021