Are you over the $50,000 FIF threshold?
The test is on cost, not market value, on any day of the income year. Over $50,000 on a single day puts all your foreign shares in the FIF rules for the whole year. Each person has their own $50,000.
Your cost reached $55,000.00 on 14 November 2025, more than $50,000. All your foreign shares are in the FIF rules for the whole year, not just the part over $50,000.
| Holder | A person |
| Your own holdings at 1 April | $38,000.00 |
| Your share of joint holdings (1 of 2) | $12,000.00 |
| Your cost at 1 April | $50,000.00 |
| 14 November 2025 · purchase | $55,000.00 |
| Highest cost on any day | $55,000.00 (14 November 2025) |
| Threshold | $50,000 |
| Result | In the FIF rules |
- It is a cliff, not an allowance: over $50,000 on any day, the first $50,000 is not exempt (IR461 p9).
- Choosing to apply the rules while under $50,000 keeps you in them for later years: s CQ 5(1)(d)(iii) looks back 4 years.
Worked example shown. Change any figure to see your own result (needs JavaScript).
Questions people ask
My partner and I hold shares jointly. Is the limit $100,000 for us?
In effect, for joint holdings, yes: each of you has your own $50,000 and counts half of jointly held cost. If either of you also holds shares alone, that partner adds those too (IR461 p9).
Do NZ PIE funds and KiwiSaver count?
No. They are not foreign companies, so they are not your FIF interests and do not count toward the $50,000.
Does a family trust get the $50,000 exemption?
No, on our reading of IR461 p24. Only “type A” eligible trusts (such as an estate within 5 years of death) get it. A family trust can still choose CV when it is lower.
What if I sell some shares?
Your cost goes down, but the test looks at every day, so a peak earlier in the year still counts. IRD has not said how to reduce cost on a part sale; we use average cost and flag it.
Calculators
Every FIF tool
Your FIF tax for the year
Holdings in, the $50,000 test, FDR and CV side by side, the lower allowed method, tax and your IR3 boxes.
Open →Fair dividend rate calculator
5% of your 1 April value plus the full quick sale adjustment, with last in, first out matching.
Open →Comparative value calculator
Closing value plus sales and dividends, less opening value and purchases, with the loss floor and the method choice.
Open →IRD exchange rates for FIF
Inland Revenue’s end-of-month, mid-month and rolling 12-month rates, with a converter.
Open →Under $50,000: dividend tax
Below the threshold your foreign dividends are ordinary income. Tax, foreign tax credit and IR3 boxes.
Open →Is this a FIF?
ASX shares, NZ PIE funds, employee shares, foreign super, crypto: in or out of the rules.
Open →New to New Zealand
Your transitional resident end date, and the revenue account method if you qualify.
Open →Overseas shares or an NZ PIE fund
The same money taxed both ways, side by side. Figures only, no recommendation.
Open →Is the threshold $100,000 yet?
No. Dated status of the lapsed bill, and the proposal on your own figures, marked NOT LAW.
Open →