{"id":364,"date":"2025-11-20T20:31:59","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T20:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/?p=364"},"modified":"2026-06-07T20:46:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T20:46:18","slug":"lifestyleblock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/2025\/11\/20\/lifestyleblock\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifestyle block with a few cattle? Here\u2019s what IRD wants you to know."},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.6&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.6&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.6&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.6&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<p>September\u2013November is the busiest time of the year for our rural community. Farmers across the region are in the thick of calving and lambing, fencing repairs, pasture work, spraying, and getting their properties ready for the summer dry.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a lifestyle block, like me, chances are you\u2019ve got a few cattle, mainly to keep the grass down or simply because it\u2019s nice having animals around.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re not alone. Plenty of lifestyle block owners aren\u2019t operating farms, and that\u2019s where the tax rules can get confusing.<br \/>Here\u2019s the simple version:<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re not running a genuine farming business, you\u2019re usually not taxable on income from selling stock. Most lifestyle block owners with a small number of cattle and no real intention to make a profit are treated as hobbyists, not businesses.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What this means for you:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No GST registration required:<br \/>If you\u2019re under the $60k annual turnover threshold and it\u2019s clearly a hobby, there\u2019s no need to register for GST.<\/li>\n<li>Income tax generally doesn\u2019t apply:<br \/>Selling calves, cull cows, or the odd extra animal usually doesn\u2019t trigger income tax when there\u2019s no profit motive.<\/li>\n<li>Expenses aren\u2019t claimable either:<br \/>Because the activity isn\u2019t a business, you can\u2019t deduct costs like feed, fencing, vet bills, fertiliser, or home-block maintenance.<\/li>\n<li>Keep it consistent:<br \/>If you start increasing stock numbers, breeding to sell, or developing the land to earn a regular income, IRD may view it as a business, and the tax rules will change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Every property is different, and the line between \u201chobby\u201d and \u201cbusiness\u201d can move quickly, especially out here, where lots of families start small and build over time.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re unsure how IRD would view your actions, or if you\u2019re considering scaling up, please get in touch. We\u2019ll help you understand the tax impacts before you make changes.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ian-kuik-anInVSFMBh0-unsplash-scaled.jpeg&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.6&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; alt=&#8221;Cattle on green hill&#8221; title_text=&#8221;Cattle on green hill&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September\u2013November is the busiest time of the year for our rural community. Farmers across the region are in the thick of calving and lambing, fencing repairs, pasture work, spraying, and getting their properties ready for the summer dry. If you have a lifestyle block, like me, chances are you\u2019ve got a few cattle, mainly to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":378,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions\/378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levica.co.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}