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Accounting has changed considerably over the last few years. While in the past accounting meant dealing with piles of papers; now information is mostly in electronic format. The IRD sets out their requirements for retention of electronic data in the Electronic Transactions Act 2002 (“ETA”) and Electronic Transactions Regulations 2003 (“ETR”).

ETA requires that for “records stored electronically, both inside or outside New Zealand and either on the taxpayer’s own electronic storage system or an outsourced system” that:

• The integrity of the information contained in the record is maintained, and
• The information is readily accessible so as to be usable for subsequent reference

Similarly to paper records, electronic data must be retained for 7 years unless extended to 10 years by the IRD for specific case situations.