Bloodstock accountants in Christchurch

Bloodstock accounting for breeders

Breeding is a long game. You pay the service fee, wait eleven months for the foal to hit the ground, then invest in feeding, raising and developing it before a sale as a yearling or, potentially, its first start on the track a couple of years down the line. The costs build up long before the returns come in.
We help make sure the financial side is covered at every stage, from the tax and GST treatment of your breeding operation to making sure you’re claiming the credits and incentives available to you.

Whether you’re running a commercial stud or breeding from a single mare in the back paddock, we understand that every dollar counts.

We can help you with;

• Bloodstock sales and exports – understanding the GST implications of selling yearlings, broodmares and other bloodstock, including sales to overseas buyers and the GST requirements of exported horses.
• Broodmare and Foal values – understanding the tax treatment of your breeding stock, including the write-downs for broodmares and correctly establishing the tax value of foals.
• Yearling sale returns – working out what you’re likely to clear after the hammer drops by taking into account sale costs, commissions, and series nominations.
• Succession and property planning – we help plan for the future of your breeding operation, including passing on mares, land and businesses to the next generation. We explore options such as subdivision or changes in use to help maximise the value of your property while protecting the future of the operation.
• GST and record-keeping – getting your GST position right, understanding what you can claim and keeping the records needed to support those claims.
• Breeding Credits & Incentives – identifying and claiming entitlements under schemes including Paddock to Podium, the Fillies and Mares Breeding Credit Scheme, the Entain 2YO Bonus, Harness 5000 etc
• Ownership and foal registration – checking that the ownership percentages recorded with the industry bodies reflect the same shareholding for tax purposes.
• Business or hobby status – establishing whether your breeding activities constitute a business or a hobby, and getting the supporting documentation right from the outset.

Accounting for trainers

Running a stable is about more than getting horses fit and ready to race. There are staff to manage, wages to pay, owners to keep informed, monthly accounts to send out and overdue bills to chase. Add health and safety, employment obligations, floats, trucks and equipment and the business side can quickly take you away from what you do best – training horses.

We take the pressure off the business side, so you can focus on the horses.

We help with:

• Profitability analysis – understanding the true cost of running the stable, the margin on training fees and whether your current fee structure is covering costs
• Payroll and employment – managing staff payroll and wage payments, employment agreements and the compliance obligations that come with employing staff
• Tax planning and cashflow – managing tax obligations and planning for periods when income fluctuates
• Finance and major purchases – helping assess funding options and the financial implications of purchase property, floats or equipment.
• Business structure and planning – reviewing your structure, planning for growth and helping you make informed decisions about the future of your stable.
• Performance benchmarking – drawing on our experience working with numerous racing stables across New Zealand we can compare your financial performance, costs and margins against industry standards, helping to identify opportunities to improve profitability and run a more efficient operation
• Property, succession and exit planning – helping you plan for the future of your property and business, whether that means selling your farm, exploring subdivision opportunities or selling to a developer, we can guide you through the financial, tax and business implications to help make the most of the value you have built over the years.

Accounting for drivers and self-employed licence holders

As a driver, your income can fluctuate with your results. A good run of winners can make for a strong season, but earnings aren’t always consistent, and if injury or illness keeps you out of the game, the income can stop. Knowing what you can claim, how to manage your tax and how to protect yourself financially is just as important as what happens on race day.

How we help:

• ACC and income protection – explaining your ACC cover and helping you understand your options for protecting your income if injury or illness prevent you from driving
• Claimable expenses – identifying deductible costs such as travel between meetings, driving and riding gear, protective equipment and vehicle expenses
• Tax planning and provisional tax – managing the tax bill that can follow a successful season and planning ahead so you’re not caught short when payments fall due
• Taking the step into training – We can help you plan the transition, set your training fees, budget for staff and operating costs, and get the accounting systems and structures right from day one.
• Finance and lending – help prepare financial information for mortgage applications, vehicle finance and other major purchases.

Is a breeding operation a business or a hobby?

This question decides whether you can deduct anything at all. Inland Revenue looks at whether the activity is carried on with a genuine intention of making a profit, and whether it is organised and operated in a way that supports that intention. Section DW 2 of the Income Tax Act 2007 denies deductions for expenditure on racing bloodstock, while the bloodstock provisions in sections EC 39 to EC 46 allow write downs for stock held in a breeding business. There is a trap worth knowing about. Buying your first horse to race, with an intention to breed from it later, will not start a breeding business on its own. Inland Revenue addressed this directly in QB 22/07.

Can a racing syndicate register for GST?

It can, although the standard is high and easy to fall short of.  To register, a syndicate must be carrying on a taxable activity, and a taxable activity specifically excludes anything carried on as a private recreational pursuit or hobby. In QB 17/04 the Commissioner set out what a racing syndicate has to show.

The syndicate must have been formed for the purpose of making a profit. Personal interest or the pleasure of its members will not satisfy the test. It must be organised to achieve that profit in a way that materially reduces the part luck plays in winning prize money.

And the manager must spend significant time running it. Inland Revenue has said plainly that racing as a standalone activity is difficult to justify, while a clear intention from the outset to breed or trade for profit makes the standard easier to meet. In practice this means the documentation needs to exist when the syndicate is formed. Assembling it afterwards rarely works.

What does the paused Fillies and Mares scheme mean for credits you are holding?

The Fillies and Mares Breeding Credit Scheme is paused from 1 September 2026, and claims close on 28 February 2028. Credits you have already accrued will not disappear on the pause date, although they do now have an end point. If you are holding a balance, it is worth checking it in My HRNZ and planning how you will use it.

Two things commonly cost breeders a claim. Credits are paid according to the ownership percentages Harness Racing New Zealand has on record, which may differ from what partners agreed between themselves. Out of date bank or GST details can also hold up or forfeit a payment entirely.

How should a yearling purchase be structured?

This is work to do in the weeks before the sale. The decision is whether to buy through a syndicate, a partnership, a company or a trust, and that choice affects GST registration, who carries liability for what, and how the cost is treated for tax.

Co owners of a horse are generally severally liable for their own share, so one owner who stops paying does not automatically become everyone else’s problem.

There are also rules allowing deductions for high priced yearlings bought by new investors who intend to breed, with price thresholds set each year by sale and by sex. Setting the structure up correctly beforehand is straightforward. Unpicking it once the hammer has fallen can be expensive.