Practical accounting, tax and administration support for New Zealand family trusts. We help establish trusts correctly, maintain their records and ensure trustees meet their ongoing obligations.
A well-run family trust can protect assets, support future generations and provide flexibility in managing family wealth. However, a poorly documented or inactive trust may fail to provide the protection it was originally created for.
Trusts now require more active administration, accurate record-keeping and clear trustee decision-making. Murray Sharma & Associates helps trustees keep their trust current, compliant and aligned with its intended purpose.
We assist with both the establishment of new trusts and the ongoing accounting, tax and administrative requirements of existing family trusts.
“Creating a trust is only the beginning. Its protection depends on how carefully it is administered over time.”
Maintain a clear separation between trust assets and personal affairs through proper documentation and administration.
Keep minutes, resolutions, disclosures and core trust records current and accessible.
Prepare annual accounts, IR6 returns and compliant beneficiary-distribution records.
Document how trust assets and benefits should be managed and transferred over time.
From establishing a family trust to maintaining its annual records and planning succession, we help trustees manage their responsibilities properly.
Support with the practical formation process, trust documentation, initial resolutions, asset transfers and coordination with trust-law professionals.
Preparation of trustee minutes, resolutions, distribution records and other annual administration documents.
Annual financial statements, trustee income calculations and preparation and filing of the trust’s IR6 income tax return.
Documentation and tax advice for income and capital distributions made to beneficiaries.
Assistance with core trust documents, trustee duties, beneficiary disclosures and record-keeping requirements.
Planning for trustee succession and the long-term transfer, management and protection of trust assets.
A family trust can be valuable for asset protection, succession planning and managing how income and capital are distributed — but it also carries real compliance obligations and cost, and the tax advantages are narrower than they used to be. Whether it suits you depends on your circumstances. MSA offers a free consultation to help you decide.
The trustee tax rate is 39% from the 2024–25 income year (1 April 2024), aligning it with the top personal rate. A de minimis keeps trusts with trustee income of $10,000 or less at 33%. This makes distribution planning to beneficiaries more important, which MSA advises on.
Trustees must keep core trust documents and records, hold and minute annual trustee meetings, document distribution decisions, file an annual trust tax return, meet Inland Revenue’s expanded disclosure requirements, and comply with the duties in the Trusts Act 2019. MSA manages all of this on your behalf.
It codified trustees’ mandatory and default duties, required trustees to hold core trust documents, and introduced obligations to disclose certain information to beneficiaries. It increased the administrative burden and the personal exposure of trustees who do not comply — which is why active, proper administration matters.
Costs vary with complexity and the assets involved. MSA operates on a fixed-fee basis — contact us for a free consultation and a clear quote covering both establishment and ongoing administration.
Start with a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll take the time to understand your circumstances, explain the services that may help and recommend a practical way forward.
Free initial consultation · Clear recommendations · No obligation
