Times are changing
Developments in electronic payment methods and improved ease of online payments from your smartphone or tablet, means processing cheque payments has become a rather laborious task. However old habits die hard, and a significant amount of people continue to use cheques – Inland Revenue (IRD) alone received more than 430,000 cheques in the year ended June 2019. Although this is a large number, it represents just 5% of all payments to IRD for the same period, and over time reflects a 20% year on year decrease in the proportion of cheque payments. IRD and ACC have announced that from March 2020 they will no longer accept payment by cheque; other than for customers that are unable to use alternative payment options. Besides internet banking, both IRD and ACC accept payment by debit/credit card over the phone, via direct debits, and cash or eftpos payments at Westpac Bank branches. In addition, IRD payments can be made through MyIR, and for ACC through your MyACC for Business accounts. Doing away with cheques will impact a range of taxpayers/businesses; however, it is a reflection of the digital world we live in today and a definitive move away from the paper based era of payments.