Charities are going to be seeing some changes to their taxes from next year. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that there will be tweaks to the charity tax regime, but she is mindful of striking the right balance. 

They want to ensure that people can’t structure their affairs as charities while building up funds that aren’t used for charitable purposes. 

Best Start and Sanitarium were examples she gave of such trading entities.  

Bruce Bernacchi, tax expert and partner at Dentons Kensington Swan, told Kerre Woodham that charities are well regulated in New Zealand, and running one isn't for the faint of heart. 

He says that while the changes may result in additional scrutiny for smaller charities, the real focus is likely to be on business income, and whether that income is distributed and applied to charitable purposes. 

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