Up to 55% of calls from taxpayers are
being rejected by the IRD because it does not have enough
staff rostered on to answer the phones, according to data
supplied to the Taxpayers' Union covering a 2-week
period in May this year.
"At tax time, the least the
Government could do is make sure it answers the phone," says
Jordan Williams, Executive Director of the Taxpayers'
Union. "On each of the three days the IRD have had to
cap the calls coming in, they didn't even answer the number
of calls their own estimates said they could
expect".
"These problems with the phones came on top of
significant downtime of the IRD's website
recently."
"Paying tax is bad enough but having to wait
hours on the phone only to be hung-up on, is a slap in the
face by the taxman".
"IRD's slogan used to be 'We're
here to help'. Nowadays, you're lucky if they're even
there."
If you're using Scoop for work, your organisation needs to pay a small license fee with Scoop Pro. We think that's fair, because your organisation is benefiting from using our news resources. In return, we'll also give your team access to pro news tools and keep Scoop free for personal use, because public access to news is important!
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn. Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik... More
Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More
Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More
Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More
Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More