Dunne: Tax bill abolishing gift duty passes

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne has welcomed the passage this evening of legislation that will make the tax system more efficient, reduce compliance costs and finally abolish gift duty.

The Taxation (Tax Administration and Remedial Matters) Bill, introduced to Parliament last November, also includes major items such as:

* amendments to the tax disputes process
* the introduction of rollover depreciation relief for Canterbury businesses, and
* amendments to aid the sharing of tax information between Inland Revenue and other government agencies.

Mr Dunne said that the changes are a collection of common-sense solutions which collectively will help promote growth by minimising compliance costs, removing obstacles and making the public service more efficient.

He said that he was particularly pleased at the abolition of gift duty, describing it as a tax that imposed compliance costs and which was "well past its use-by date".

"Gift duty has continued to impose $70 million of compliance costs on New Zealanders each year, while no longer serving its intended purpose. It is a relic of the estate duty era, long since passed, and it has been overtaken by other developments rendering it obsolete," Mr Dunne said.

He said that the bill also introduces changes to secrecy provisions in the tax administration rules to help bring the public service more into line with today's customer service expectations and to improve efficiency across the public service.

The abolition of gift duty will take effect on 1 October 2011.

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