MYOB AO Classic release notes—23.0.2 (New Zealand)

You can export IR10 data from AO Classic as a CSV file. Export and import IR10 data - NZ, you can import the CSV to pre-fill the IR10 form attached to a tax return.

This helps you increase efficiency and improve accuracy by reducing manual data entry. You can override the pre-filled amounts if you need to.

Updates to PAYE tax codes

From April 2021, new tax rates apply to the M and ME tax codes, and two new tax codes for secondary income are added. The tax code changes are as follows:

• M, ME, M SL and ME SL—Annual income greater than $180,000 is now taxed at a rate of 39%.
• SA—New tax code for secondary income greater than $180,000.
• SA SL— New tax code for secondary income greater than $180,000 with student loan.

The new SA and SA SL tax codes have been added to the Tax Code drop-down on the Employment Details tab of the Employee Maintenance window.

The new SA and SL tax codes apply from 1 April 2021—don't try to process a pay that includes employees with these codes before this date, or it'll be rejected by payday filing.

Student loan thresholds

This release updates the student loan thresholds for the 2021–2022 financial year. The new thresholds are:

ACC rates and thresholds

The ACC Earner Levy rates and threshold have not been changed for the 2021–2022 financial year; however, the earner levy calculated on secondary earnings is now capped at the existing annual threshold of $130,911, where previously the earner levy was paid on every dollar of secondary income.

ESCT thresholds

This release updates the ESCT thresholds for the 2021–2022 financial year, adding a new top rate of 39%. The thresholds are now:

A new gender option has been added to the Personal Details tab of the Employee Maintenance window.

An Another Gender column has also been added to the Employee Statistics report.

This release updates MYOB Payroll to produce files for payday filing in the new v2021 format. This includes the EI Return file and the Employee Details file.

KiwiSaver Opt Out Codes

The Employee Details file now includes information on employees opting in or out of KiwiSaver. The KiwiSaver information included in payday filing has been expanded to include information on employees who opt out of KiwiSaver after the normal opt out period.

Because KiwiSaver information is now included in the ED file, you no longer need to produce and send the KiwiSaver Employment Details (KED) file. You can still produce a KED file from MYOB Payroll and send it to the IRD for now, but the KED file will not be accepted from 1 April 2021.

Employees can opt out of KiwiSaver between the ends of the second and eighth weeks of their employment (i.e. between days 14 and 56)—see Opting out of KiwiSaver on the IRD website for more information. To opt out after the end of this period, the employee must send their KS10 to the IRD or apply online. The IRD will let you know if they've approved the late opt out reason and when to stop deductions and contributions.

New fields have been added to the Compulsory Deductions tab of the Maintain Employees window to capture additional KiwiSaver information for employees.

New checkboxes at the top of the KiwiSaver section mark employee's as:

• An existing KiwiSaver member

• An opted-in KiwiSaver member

• A casual employee.

The Late opt-out reason drop-down contains a list of possible reason codes:

• INFO—Employer didn't provide a KiwiSaver information pack within seven days of starting employment.
• IRIS—Inland Revenue didn't send an investment statement upon allocation to a default scheme
• ERIS—Employer didn't send an investment statement for the employer's chosen scheme
• EVNT—Events outside of control meant that the opt-out application was unable to be submitted within the eight-week time limit.
• CRIT—Employee did not meet the criteria to join KiwiSaver
• INER—Employee was incorrectly enrolled under the age of 18
• OTHR—Other explanation.

When OTHR is selected, you must enter the reason into the Other Reason field.

Updates to the EI returns window

An option has been added to the Employment Information (EI) Returns window, allowing you to choose whether to generate files for payday filing in the new format. This option is selected by default.

This release also updates some labels in the window:

• The New/Departing/Details column has been renamed to New/Departed/Updated.
• The New and Departing Employee Details button has been renamed to Employee Details.

The 23.0.1 release of AO Classic included enhancements aligned to the New Zealand Holidays Act, focused on recording and reporting on Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) and Ordinary Weekly Pay (OWP) rates for annual leave. If you didn't install AO Classic 23.0.1, this release will be the first time you see these changes.

As of the 23.0.1 release, AO Classic now calculates and reports annual leave in weeks. A number of changes have been made to options, record entry windows and reports to support these enhancements:

• Annual leave amounts are now displayed in weeks at Employee > Leave Details.
• When an employee's Normal days / week or Normal hours / day fields are edited, a new warning message appears, asking if the employee's Current Annual Leave due should be recalculated.
• New options to include in gross earnings for AWE and OWP are available for Pay Codes with the Gross Earnings type.
• The payslip now shows weeks for annual leave due and accrued.
• A new Display Weeks option is available on the Holiday Accruals report, so that balances can be reported in weeks as well as hours, and weekly amounts are now displayed on the Employee Holidays report.

For full details on all of the changes included in 23.0.1, see the AO Classic 23.0.1 release notes.