RELEASING THE SELF-EMPLOYED FROM TIME-CONSUMING TAXES

KIWI FINTECH start-up Hnry has launched a new service to support payment compliance for the self-employed. The service gives self-employed people the freedom to focus on their business by automating their income tax, GST, ACC and student loan payments.

Hnry’s co-founder and CEO James Fuller says Hnry turns selfemployment into a ‘pay-as-youearn’ model, free from the risk of severe consequences that come with non-compliance.

Self-employed people organise for their clients to pay Hnry directly, Hnry then takes care of all required payments – ensuring fees are paid accurately and on time.

As soon as the client has paid, the sole trader is immediately paid their take-home income, Hnry doesn’t hold money or delay payments. Total fees are one percent of income, capped at a maximum annual fee of $2,000 for high-earners.

Fuller says in most economies the systems and processes that come with being self-employed are fundamentally broken. In New Zealand, these systems aren’t in line with modern requirements, meaning they’re completely out of touch for the self-employed.

“Over the past few years, there has been a significant rise in organisations looking to employ freelancers and contractors so they can scale up and down their workforce. Also, the idea of working multiple jobs at the same time is becoming commonplace, and the gig economy is impacting many different industries – but we need the right systems in place to make this work. Hnry provides the wiring for the gig economy.”

While accounting platforms exist to support small, medium and large businesses, the needs of sole traders are very different and haven’t previously been catered for, says Fuller.

Hnry has been built for all types of sole traders, such as Uber drivers, freelancers, graphic designers or someone running a drop shipping business.

The team aim to have 20,000 users by September 2019 and have a road map to add functionality that will enable Hnry to launch in Australia, the UK and US.