Hon Todd McClay
Minister of Revenue

17 April 2014

Tax conference to address simplification

Revenue Minister Todd McClay has announced that simplification and modernisation will be the focus of the tax conference to be held in conjunction with Victoria University, on 12 and 13 June.

“The conference, New Zealand’s Tax Administration for the 21st Century, will focus on the simplification of tax administration including PAYE, reducing compliance costs, and will also address issues relating to penalties, debt and enforcement,” says Mr McClay.

“Already we are doing a lot in these areas, for example – myIR and Voice ID make things faster and easier for Inland Revenue’s customers to check personal tax details and file GST returns. Financial reporting changes and the repeal of gift duty help reduce customer’s compliance costs, and we have invested nearly $200 million extra since 2010 on recovering debt and outstanding returns.”

“Around $7.4 billion of debt and outstanding returns were collected in the last two years alone.”

“Business Transformation is an opportunity to modernise and simplify tax administration in New Zealand.”

“It is a chance to review all of Inland Revenue’s processes and policy settings to ensure they are consistent with the objective of making tax compliance simpler and faster for Kiwis.”

“Improvement of tax administration is part of the Government’s Better Public Service agenda. It is critical that Inland Revenue collects and distributes tax in the most cost-effective and efficient manner to meet both the Government’s objectives and our customer’s needs.”

“The conference will bring together academics, business leaders, tax advisors and Government officials to discuss a range of tax administration issues.”

“We are embarking on a once in a generation opportunity to lay the framework for the future administration of the tax system, so we should aim high,” says Mr McClay.

Details of the conference can be found at http://nzpublicfinance.com/tax-administration-conference/.

ENDS

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