General PIE FAQ
What is PIE?
PIE stands for Portfolio Investment Entity. A PIE is a managed fund that has elected to pay tax at each investor’s PIE tax rate.
What is a PIR?
PIR stands for Prescribed Investor Rate. The PIR is the rate at which an individual’s PIE tax is calculated.
Why do you need my PIR?
If you have been asked by AMP to provide your Prescribed Investor Rate (PIR), this is because one or more of the investment funds you invest in is a PIE. This means that the taxable gains/growth on your PIE investments will be taxed at your individual PIR . We need your PIR so that we can ensure that you are charged the correct PIE tax on your investments.
We will periodically file a tax statement with Inland Revenue detailing your PIE income and expenses, and any tax payable or rebates owing.
If you haven’t given us your IRD number or PIR, your PIE tax will be calculated and deducted at the current 'default rate' of 30%. This means your PIE tax liability may be calculated at too high a rate. You generally have until the last day in each tax year (31 March) or the date of your full withdrawal to give us your correct PIR for that tax year or withdrawal. It is important that you provide us with your correct PIR as IRD will not refund any excess PIE tax paid. IRD may also contact us and require us to change your rate. No refund will be made by AMP for tax deducted at too high a rate unless we believe it is our error.
How do I determine my PIE tax rate?
To help you work out your PIR we are able to offer you some guidelines including:
- these FAQs
- an IRD PIE/PIR flowchart
However, AMP cannot be responsible for the PIR you determine and we recommend you seek advice from a tax specialist or Inland Revenue to confirm your correct PIR.
How do I change/update my PIR with you?
Please call Customer Solutions on 0800 267 111 between the hours of 8am-8pm Monday to Thursday and until 6.30pm on Fridays.
Alternatively, you can:
- email AMP
- complete a 'Change of details' form
- write to the Manager, Administration at AMP Services (NZ) Limited, PO Box 55, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140, or
- free fax 0800 509 955 with your details.
Please include the following information: full name(s), date of birth and address along with your plan number(s).
Which of AMP’s products are PIEs?
The following AMP investment products are impacted by PIE tax:
- AMP KiwiSaver Scheme
- New Zealand Retirement Trust
- AIS Classic Investments
- AIS Premium Investments
My PIR is 0%. How am I taxed?
If you provide us with a 0% PIR, we will not deduct any PIE tax at 31 March each year when you withdraw funds (where you are permitted to do so). AMP will provide you with the details of your PIE-allocated income in your Annual PIE Tax Statement. You will need to include this in your tax return. 0% investors should confirm the treatment of PIE income with their tax professional.Please note that individual investors cannot choose 0%.
We have a joint investment with AMP. Do you need both of us to give you our IRD and PIR details? Why?
Yes, we need both of you to provide us with your IRD and PIR details. AMP must ensure that for joint investors we use the highest PIR. To ensure this, we collect both your PIRs . If we do not receive PIR information for both of you, and we cannot ascertain the highest rate, we will use the default rate of 30%.
We have a family trust. Should we be taxed at 0%?
A Trust may elect to apply a 0%, 21% or 30% PIR. Testamentary trusts can elect 12.5%. Please contact your financial or tax professional to discuss the PIR you should use.
Will AMP provide me with a tax certificate or PIE statement?
Yes, you will be sent an annual tax certificate (titled ‘Annual Tax Statement’) by 30 June following the end of the financial year (31 March). We will also send you a tax certificate if you have fully withdrawn from a PIE fund in an AMP product during the year.
How do you calculate my PIE tax?
Each day the total income and expenses earned, and any tax credits received by a PIE fund are allocated to all of the investors in that fund, based on the proportion of units that each investor holds. Your share of the taxable income and expenses, plus any deductible expenses we have charged you by cancelling units, is multiplied by your PIE investor tax rate. We use your share of any tax credits to reduce your tax liability. If your rate is 0% we will send you details of your income for inclusion in your own tax return.
When do you collect and file my PIE tax?
AMP will collect PIE tax at the end of each tax year. We will also calculate and collect your PIE tax on every redemption of units from your investment during the year. This means we will calculate and collect tax whenever you make a switch out of a fund, rebalance, transfer funds, make a partial or full withdrawal. AMP will file all PIE tax with Inland Revenue at the end each financial year. If you withdraw fully from your investment(s) then AMP will file your PIE tax with Inland Revenue during the month following the exit, and at the end of the financial year, we will send you an annual tax certificate (titled ‘Annual Tax Statement).
By when do I need to have notified you of my PIR and IRD number?
You generally have until the last working day of the financial year, 31 March, to let us know your PIR and IRD number. However, we recommend you let us know of any change earlier than this. If you are fully withdrawing your investment from a PIE you must let us know your correct PIR and IRD number at the time of withdrawal.
What is a PIE tax rebate?
A PIE tax rebate is basically a refund of tax claimed by PIEs on behalf of investors with a 12.5, 21 or 30% PIR (19.5% prior to 1 April 2010) .Rebates are calculated at the investor level for each investment fund and account held.
Rebates occur when deductible expenses exceed taxable income, or where a PIE has allocated more tax credits to an investor than that investor's PIE tax liability.
AMP files an annual PIE tax return with Inland Revenue and, if a rebate is due, Inland Revenue will issue a cash tax refund to the PIE. The PIE then issues additional units to investors to whom a rebate is due.
AMP may also claim a PIE tax rebate on your behalf from Inland Revenue at the time of a full withdrawal. Once we receive the rebate from Inland Revenue, we will pay it to you (unless you are a KiwiSaver member transferring to another provider).
How does a 0% investor realise a tax rebate?
You should seek advice from a tax professional or Inland Revenue. Generally you could include any PIE allocated loss, or claim the benefit of any additional tax credits, through your tax return.
I am enrolling my children in KiwiSaver. What PIE Tax rate applies for them?
There are currently no special PIE tax rate thresholds or rules for children. The same PIR rules apply to all taxpayers.
AMP charges me other fees, how are these treated under the PIE tax rules?
Most fees we charge, outside of the unit price, are tax-deductible fees for ongoing management and administration services. We collect these fees by cancelling your units and we take a deduction for the fee when calculating your PIE taxable income and PIE tax liability. If we have treated a particular type of fee as not deductible we will report this to you so you can obtain your own tax advice in case you can include the fee in your tax return.
What is ‘FDR’?
FDR stands for Fair Dividend Rate. This is the method that AMP funds use to calculate taxable income on overseas shares. Generally speaking, 5% of the market value of the overseas shares are treated as taxable income and dividends and capital gains are treated as non-taxable. AMP does this calculation and includes relevant income when calculating PIE tax liabilities.