Search

Revenue Minister Todd McClay and Land Information Minister Louise Upston say people buying and selling property for profit will now be unable to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Provisions introduced in the Taxation (Land Information and Offshore Persons Information) Bill passed the Third Reading in Parliament today.

The resulting measures amend the Land Transfer Act and Tax Administration Act 2015, and will see Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) collect additional information when property is bought and sold, and pass this information to Inland Revenue.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay today cautiously welcomed the report by Solid Energy’s Administrators that a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) is the best way forward for the company.

“This is a much more positive recommendation than the alternative, liquidation, and is likely to offer the best outcome for staff and creditors,” says Mr McClay.

Under the proposal, trade creditors are to be paid in full and staff will have greater job certainty.

The Taxation (Bright-line Test for Residential Land) Bill, which contains proposals to improve compliance with the tax rules on the sale of residential land, has passed its first reading in Parliament.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says proposals in the bill to supplement the current “intention” test in the Income Tax Act will make it easier for Inland Revenue to identify speculators in residential property and make sure they pay their fair share of tax.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says a paper released today for public feedback aims to make the current tax rules for closely held companies more workable.

Closely held companies, which typically have only few shareholders, make up a significant proportion of the total number of companies in New Zealand.

There are specific tax rules available for such companies, including the look-through company rules introduced in 2011, to ensure that the decision on whether to convert a small business to a company is not driven by tax considerations.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay announced today that Cabinet has given its approval to a set of proposals intended to address the current inequitable situation where debt remission between related parties can, under certain circumstances, result in an incorrect taxation outcome.

At present, in cases when such debt is forgiven by the creditor, and no longer has to be repaid, it becomes taxable income for the debtor. However, because the arrangement is between related parties, the creditor does not receive a tax deduction for the bad loan.

Public consultation begins today on the Government’s proposed residential land withholding tax with the release of a paper seeking public feedback.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay welcomed the release and says the proposed tax would apply only to offshore sellers. He says it is an important part of the Government’s residential property tax compliance work and will ensure tax is paid under the Bright-line test legislation.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says measures proposed in a tax bill introduced today will improve compliance with the current residential land sale rules and help to ensure that people pay their fair share of tax on gains from property sales.

Revenue Minister, Todd McClay, today released a discussion document on the collection of GST for online purchases.

GST: Cross-border services, intangibles and goods contains proposals to require overseas suppliers to register and return GST when they sell services (including online products such as e-books, music and videos) to New Zealand consumers. It also outlines the way forward for improving the collection of GST on all goods, including low-value imported goods.

Placing Solid Energy into temporary voluntary administration gives the best chance to secure an ongoing future for the different parts of the business, Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay say.

Overseas-based Kiwis with student loans have collectively repaid more than $200 million in additional repayments towards their outstanding balances through the overseas-based borrowers initiative, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Todd McClay announced today.

The number of KiwiSaver enrolments continues to rise in the over-18 year old target population, with an additional 11,656 members in the month of June, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

“Removing the taxpayer-funded kick-start incentive in Budget 2015 was not expected to affect the number of working-age people joining a KiwiSaver scheme,” Mr English says.

Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Todd McClay has represented New Zealand at the 30,000^th Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, in Belgium.

Every night since 1928, the Last Post - the traditional final salute to the fallen - is played by volunteer buglers in Ypres.  They do this to honour the memory of those soldiers of the former British Empire and its allies, who died in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. It is the intention of the Last Post Association to maintain this daily act of homage in perpetuity.

Associate Minister of Trade Todd McClay says a new Fonterra ingredients factory in the Netherlands, opened yesterday by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, marks an exciting step forward in agribusiness collaboration between New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay has welcomed a new double tax agreement between New Zealand and Canada, which is now in force. 

Mr McClay says the new agreement, which lowers withholding taxes on dividends, interest and royalties between the two countries will be welcome news for businesses and investors in both countries.

Tax provisions to ensure community housing providers can continue to offer housing support to New Zealanders will give the sector the certainty it needs to keep growing, Ministers Paula Bennett and Todd McClay say.

“Some community housing providers risk losing their charitable status by supporting people into home ownership,” Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

“We are of the view these providers give invaluable service and as such we want to ensure they are not worse off financially,” Mrs Bennett says.

A tax bill to be introduced today will help prepare the ground for simplification of the tax administration system, says Revenue Minister Todd McClay. 

Mr McClay says changes proposed in the Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill will remove some of the legislative obstacles to making the tax administration system simpler and more certain for New Zealand.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says taxpayers affected by the flooding event in the lower North Island earlier this month will have help from Inland Revenue.

The Government has mobilised a range of responses and today an Order in Council was made which will allow the Commissioner of Inland Revenue flexibility to remit use-of-money interest payable on late tax payments.

The Commissioner of Inland Revenue has authority to remit the late filing and late payment penalties, and to deal with taxpayers who cannot pay on time because of financial hardship.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay today welcomed the release of detailed design proposals for the new “bright-line” test, which will require income tax to be paid on gains from the sale of residential property bought and sold within two years.

“The Government clearly signalled in Budget 2015 that it would consult with the public on the final shape of the bright-line test before it becomes law later this year,” says Mr McClay. 

A bill which will help Inland Revenue enforce the tax rules around property has passed its first reading in Parliament today.

Minister of Revenue Todd McClay and Minister for Land Information Louise Upston say the Taxation (Land Information and Offshore Persons Information) Bill contains two property tax proposals announced as part of Budget 2015.

“This package of measures will ensure that people buying and selling residential property for profit pay their fair share of tax,” says Mr McClay.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay and Land Information Minister Louise Upston have welcomed the introduction of a new bill which will help Inland Revenue enforce the tax rules around property.

The Taxation (Land Information and Offshore Persons Information) Bill containing proposed amendments to the Land Transfer Act and the Tax Administration Act was introduced into Parliament yesterday by Ms Upston. The bill contains two of the property tax proposals announced as part of Budget 2015:

Newly-released Cabinet papers show the previous Labour Government acted in bad faith around the Saudi sheep issue and was repeatedly warned its actions carried legal, commercial and diplomatic risks, Acting Foreign Minister Todd McClay says.

The papers relate to the export of sheep to Saudi Arabia and were to be released shortly under the Official Information Act.

The documents show that live sheep exports for slaughter stopped in 2003 but in the following year Labour began to negotiate a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia to resume those exports.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says 15,000 hours of phone time are now being saved each year, with 1.4 million IRD customers signed up to voice ID.

“This cements New Zealand’s position as the country with the highest level of voice biometric enrolments per capita in the world, and is a big win in the battle to reduce red tape and compliance for New Zealanders,” says Mr McClay.

Voice ID went live in January 2012, and 60-70 per cent of people who call IRD on any given day are now enrolled with it.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay today welcomed the announcement of Fast Enterprises as Inland Revenue’s preferred software partner to support a modernised, simplified tax system for New Zealand.

Mr McClay said that a modernised tax administration system, enabled by the new software, would significantly boost the Government’s ability to support flourishing businesses in New Zealand and make tax compliance less costly and time consuming for all New Zealanders.

Minister of Revenue and Associate Trade Minister, Todd McClay has concluded a European lobbying mission by signing a tax agreement in Paris to focus on tax avoidance by multinationals.

Tax Agreement

The OECD's Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement brings New Zealand closer to participating in the global standard for an automatic exchange of information between tax authorities.