Accounting Fees - Timing of Tax Deduction

Question

Could you please confirm that it is illegal to accrue accounting fees due to a precedent set in case law that stated that accounting fees could only be claimed in the year they were paid?

Answer

It is not illegal to accrue accounting fees. From a tax perspective, however, the expenditure can only be deducted when incurred (paid).

See https://www.ird.govt.nz/ technical-tax/case-notes/2007/cn-20071123-timing-of-deduction.html