Why is Airbnb, Etsy or eBay asking for my IRD number? NZ platform reporting rules explained

Cause 1: New Zealand's reporting rules for online marketplaces

Inland Revenue says that from 1 January 2024, platform operators based in New Zealand must collect information on sellers. New Zealand adopted the OECD's model reporting rules for digital platforms. The marketplace reports each calendar year through a Digital Platform Information account in myIR by 7 February the following year, and has to give you a copy of what it reported by the same date. The first reports were due in early 2025.

The rules cover what Inland Revenue calls relevant services. Those are the rental of immovable property, including commercial and residential property, carparks and short-stay and visitor accommodation, and personal services, which Inland Revenue describes as time- or task-based work done by one or more individuals at a buyer's request. Its examples are ride-sharing, food and beverage delivery, and graphic and web design. Simply advertising a property as available to rent does not count.

For an individual seller, Inland Revenue lists what the marketplace must report:

• First and last name, primary address and the jurisdictions you are resident in.
• Your tax identification number and the jurisdiction that issued it. For a New Zealander, that is your IRD number.
• Your date of birth.
• The total paid or credited to you for each quarter of the year, the number of activities it relates to, and any fees, commissions or taxes withheld or charged.
• The financial account identifier the money goes to, where available, and the account holder's name.
• For property: the address of each listing, the land registration number if known, and the number of days each listing was rented.

Cause 2: GST on short-stay accommodation, ride-sharing and food delivery

A second set of rules started on 1 April 2024. Inland Revenue calls short-stay and visitor accommodation, ride-sharing and food and beverage delivery listed services. If you provide them in New Zealand through an online marketplace, Inland Revenue says you must give the marketplace your name, your IRD number and your GST registration status, and tell it if that status changes.

The marketplace then collects GST at 15% on those sales. If you are not GST-registered, it pays 6.5% to Inland Revenue and passes 8.5% back to you as a flat-rate credit, which Inland Revenue says is yours to keep. If you are GST-registered, you treat these sales as zero-rated in your own GST return. So when Airbnb asks whether you are registered for GST, it is working out which of those two treatments applies to you.

Airbnb's help page on these requests asks for the number you use for income tax, not a VAT or GST number. It lists the New Zealand format as the 'Inland Revenue Department Number (IRD)', 8 to 9 digits without dashes, and says it reports through Irish Revenue, which passes the information on to the other tax authorities using the OECD rules.

Cause 3: Etsy, eBay and other overseas marketplaces

Inland Revenue says New Zealand's rules do not yet cover selling goods. The OECD offers an extended version for the sale of goods and vehicle rentals, and Inland Revenue says it has not been implemented here. So if you only sell goods, the New Zealand rules described above are not the reason for the request.

Overseas platforms answer to their own countries' rules, though. Etsy's help article on this lists the reporting it does for sellers in the EU, the UK and Canada. eBay's notice about the EU rules says it needs details such as your Taxpayer Identification Number from sellers who meet the criteria. Inland Revenue, for its part, says it receives information from other tax authorities about New Zealand tax residents earning income on overseas marketplaces, and uses it for things like checking that income appears in tax returns.

If Etsy or eBay asks you, open the request from inside your account rather than from a link in an email, and read which rule it names. On Etsy, the prompt appears in Shop Manager and the details are kept on the 'Legal and tax information' page of your account settings.

What happens if you leave it blank

Each platform sets its own consequence. Here is what their help pages say:

• Airbnb: it may suspend your payouts after giving you notice. It still reports the information it already has, and payouts resume once you provide your taxpayer information.
• Etsy: if you don't provide requested information in time, Etsy says it will pause your shop through Vacation Mode, so you can't take new orders and your listings don't show in search.
• eBay: its notice about the EU rules says that without the information it won't be able to process your payouts and you won't be able to sell.
• Inland Revenue: sellers must give their marketplace the information it needs, and Inland Revenue says penalties may apply if you give false information or don't provide it when asked.

Is the money you make selling online taxable?

Being reported is separate from owing tax. The question that matters is whether your selling is a business. Inland Revenue says that when you sell goods or services over the internet you have the same tax obligations as any other business, that business income must go in your income tax return, and that there is no minimum income level to be in business.

Inland Revenue's hobby guidance says your side hustle might be a business for tax purposes even if you don't think of it that way. The signs it lists include:

• You intend to make a profit.
• You put a lot of time, money and effort into it.
• You sell to customers on a regular basis.
• You keep records to track how it is doing financially.
• You run it the way most businesses in the same trade are run.
• You intend to keep going long term, or rely on it to pay your living expenses.

If it really is a hobby, such as occasionally selling things you make to family and friends or at markets, Inland Revenue says the money is not taxable income. The trade-off is that you can't claim expenses or losses either. For ride-sharing and delivery work, Inland Revenue says the income goes in your return regardless of how much you earn.

GST is a separate threshold. Inland Revenue says you must register if you carry out a taxable activity and your turnover was at least $60,000 in the last 12 months, or you expect it to be at least $60,000 in the next 12 months. Below that you can register voluntarily, and starting a business doesn't on its own mean you have to.

Keep it tidy so the reports never surprise you

The reports work in your favour if your own records already match them.

• Enter your IRD number exactly as Inland Revenue issued it, and keep your name, address and date of birth matching your Inland Revenue records.
• Update your GST status on the platform the day it changes. It decides how GST is handled on your listed services.
• Read the copy of your report when it arrives early in the year and compare it with your own sales records. The platform files the report, so raise mistakes with the platform first. Etsy, for example, says to contact Etsy Support if anything it reported is inaccurate.
• Keep your own record of sales and expenses from every platform, so your income tax return is complete without depending on their summaries.
• If you're unsure whether you are in business, ask Inland Revenue, a tax agent or an accountant before your return is due. This post is general information, not tax or legal advice.

Want your own sales in one place?

If you also sell directly, a free OneSol page lists your links and products, and on Pro you take card payments through your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account, so those sales sit in one account you control. OneSol does not file taxes or give tax advice, so your obligations to Inland Revenue stay the same.