You can now assume that tax bills will radically altered whilst they are in the Select Committee. This makes it impossible for any tax advisor to safely tell clients what they should be doing until you see the fine print of the final bill. This would have been avoided if Minister Cullen had given his tax hike a bit more thought last year.

A case in point is the change to the new SSCWT rules (the 5% withdrawal tax). By the time this came out of the Select Committee it no longer applied to anyone earning less than $60,000. Even taxpayers on over $60,000 are unlikely to ever pay it because of changes to the hardship rules on withdrawals. In the Committee this tax changed into a tax incentive for employees earning over $60,000.

Another change in the Select Committee was the huge increase in the thresholds for the Foreign Investment Fund regime. Most New Zealand taxpayers will now be outside the regime. But you could not have known this until you saw the Select Committee report.

There is another bill in the Select Committee and possibly 1 more in the wind before Christmas.

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Annabel Young MP National Party Spokesperson on Revenue National Party List MP responsible for Wellington Central and Rongotai Do you want to be added to my tax email group? Have a look at my tax web-site http://www.tax.org.nz

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