just a quick question about being a non resident (for tax purposes)...
on the IRD website it says to qualify you must be out of the country for longer than 183 days and have no enduring ties with NZ- property/family/bank accounts etc.
has anyone returned and been stuck with a huge tax bill because of this?
You should write to IRD and declare yourself non-resident for tax purposes. Yes, they can decide that is not the case, but you are in a genuine non-resident situation so they are unlikely to do that. When you do this you can ask them to send you a letter, any letter, which you can use as your 'Residence Certificate'. There is no such thing in NZ, but a letter from IRD on headed paper with your name and address should suffice.
As a non-resident for tax purposes you are not liable to tax for your overseas earnings (Let me reiterate, if you are non-resident for tax purposes then you are not liable to tax in NZ for your Korean income.) You *are* liable to tax in NZ in respect of any *NZ* income, for example interest on savings in any NZ account you hold, or income from rental property you might receive from an NZ source. You are probably liable to tax in Korea for this too, but I don't know about that.
You are allowed to retain bank accounts in NZ, and in fact, you can qualify for a non-resident tax rate of 10%. You have to write to your bank and declare your status and ask for that rate. If you do this then you must write and tell them when you go back to NZ and become resident again. Basically this means any interest you earn in NZ will be taxed at 10% instead of 19% (or whatever your tax bracket was).
So, bottom line, tell IRD you are non-resident for tax purposes. Tell your bank you are non-resident for tax purposes and you want the Korean non-resident tax rate. The downside is (I think) you have to pay your student loans if you are outside NZ (if you have any), but I don't know about that either.
