12 December 2001

Media release – Finance and Expenditure Committee

Taxation (Relief, Refunds and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

The Finance and Expenditure Committee is inviting public submissions on the Taxation (Relief, Refunds and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. The closing date for submissions is 15 February 2002.

The bill contains provisions to give the Inland Revenue Department greater flexibility in dealing with taxpayers' debt problems. These changes were introduced in response to concerns about taxpayer debt expressed by the Finance and Expenditure Committee in a 1999 inquiry into the power and operations of the Inland Revenue Department.

The bill also introduces new rules for the transfer of overpaid tax; prevents the over-taxation of unit trusts; closes certain loopholes in tax law relating to unit trusts and petroleum mining; clarifies issues regarding holiday pay tax when businesses are sold; clarifies the law allowing charities and other non-profit bodies to claim GST refunds on activities; and contains further provisions to simplify the tax system and reduce compliance costs.

Copies of the bill can be purchased from Bennetts Government Bookshops.

The committee requires 25 copies of each submission. Those wishing to include any information of a private or personal nature in a submission should first discuss this with the clerk of the committee, as submissions are usually released to the public by the committee. Those wishing to appear before the committee to speak to their submissions should state this clearly and provide a daytime telephone contact number. For further guidance on making a submission, our publication Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee can be found on our web site at www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz.

Submissions should be addressed as follows:

Julian Kersey
Finance and Expenditure Committee Secretariat
Parliament House
WELLINGTON

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>