NZ-HK agreement to cut cross border taxes

NZ-HK agreement to cut cross border taxes

Auckland, December 1: Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang says the Double Taxation Agreement he and New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English signed today will reduce tax impediments to cross-border trade and investment.

Mr Tsang told senior financial professionals, traders, economists and business people at a Hong Kong New Zealand Business Association (HKNZBA) and KVB Kunlun breakfast in Auckland that the agreement will also assist both parties with tax administration.

The agreement has been rapidly concluded on the back of the Closer Economic Partnership on free trade that New Zealand signed with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in March this year.

New Zealand has a policy of relieving double taxation by unilaterally granting residents with credits for foreign tax paid on income that is also subject to New Zealand tax - up to the amount of New Zealand tax liability on that income.

However, double taxation agreements also specifically eliminate certain forms of double taxation, reduce withholding taxes on cross-border investments, prescribe how certain profits are to be calculated, exempt some short-term activities and enable information to be exchanged between tax administrations.

Following the meeting Mr Tsang took a look at an upgraded superyacht lifting facility at Orams Marine Village, which is an integral part of New Zealand’s multi-million dollar marine sector.

ENDS

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