Search

Education Minister Anne Tolley and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne have today launched a new tax education online curriculum tool for school students.

The Citizenship and Tax Education tool is designed for Year 7-10 social studies classes.

“This will be a welcome addition to the resources currently available to schools,” says Mrs Tolley.

“It’s a useful and practical programme and it’s aligned to the new curriculum, so students and teachers will benefit.”

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne today launched an updated version of the Sussed programme which gives senior secondary school students an insight into the costs of tertiary study and the financial support available to them.

After attending a ‘Sussed’ presentation of the revamped programme to about 100 senior Tawa College students in Wellington today, Mr Dunne said it was “essential viewing” for anyone considering going to a university, polytechnic, or wananga.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne today announced that businesses will be able to claim tax deductions on failed software developments because to not do so would inhibit productivity and innovation.

“Essentially the Government wants business to help drive the economy forward, and this move is about clearing obstacles to them doing that.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne today announced the launch of a new student loans web page that brings together all the information people would need before taking out a loan, while they are studying and once their repayment obligation starts.

“Effectively, this is a ‘landing’ page that will allow prospective students, students and those who have completed their studies and have student loans to pay off to access all the information and tools they need.

An advertising campaign has been launched this week to get parents of overseas-based student loan borrowers to remind them to repay their loans, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.

The advertisements build on the success of the Government initiative which has recovered $2 million in outstanding student loan debt from borrowers in Australia in the last six months, Mr Dunne said.

“Often for young people who have gone overseas, it is a case of out of sight, out of mind and they stop paying off their student loans or are very slow to do so.

Good afternoon.

Much has happened recently on the tax front which is of direct relevance to you and I would like to take this opportunity to talk about this afternoon.

But first, let me say that I am very pleased to be here today.

Pleased to be invited to the KPMG Tax briefing, but especially pleased to be back in Christchurch.

The fact that you have organised a conference and are holding it here in Christchurch, tells me that you are getting back to business as usual.

And that is precisely what Christchurch needs.

An international report issued by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes gives New Zealand’s tax administration a high pass mark measured against international standards, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.

The Global Forum rates member countries on the key tax administration measures of transparency and exchange of information.

The prescribed rate of interest used to calculate fringe benefit tax on low-interest, employment-related loans is 5.90%, down from the previous rate of 6.24% which applied from the quarter beginning 1 October 2010, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne announced today.

The new rate applies for the quarter beginning 1 April 2011.

The rate is reviewed regularly to align it with the results of the Reserve Bank’s survey of variable first mortgage housing rates.

The new rate was set by Order in Council yesterday.
 

Payroll Giving donations of $546,000 in March were the highest monthly total recorded since the scheme began 18 months ago, with the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal clearly convincing people to give more generously than ever, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne announced today.

“It is very clear that the March figures were hugely boosted by New Zealanders supporting the Appeal, and finding that Payroll Giving is a simple and efficient mechanism to allow them to do that,” he said.

The Canterbury earthquake tax bill passed yesterday will provide businesses and individuals with practical help and certainty in their tax affairs in the wake of the September and February earthquakes, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said.

The main features of the new Taxation (Canterbury Earthquake Measures) Bill, are:

The $119.3 million allocated over four years in Budget 2010 to help Inland Revenue chase down tax evaders has already helped assess or bring in an additional $115.2 million of tax in the first nine months.

“This is well ahead of the targets set,” Revenue Minister Peter Dunne says.

The extra funding has been used for Inland Revenue audits focused on seasonal workers, the hospitality industry and the property sector, with an additional $46.8 million of tax assessed between July 2010 and 31 March 2011.

Budget 2011 signals measures to ensure fairer treatment of employee benefits, new rules for mixed-use assets, and a new approach to livestock valuation elections for farmers, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne 

Employee definitions of income

Building on the Budget 2010 changes to improve the integrity of the tax system, two further aspects of the tax and social assistance treatment of non-cash benefits are to be examined for fairness.

The Government will change the thin capitalisation rules for foreign-owned banks, with the minimum prescribed percentage of equity for tax purposes increasing from 4 per cent to 6 per cent from 1 April 2012.

“The change is part of the Government’s continuing focus on ensuring that all taxpayers pay their fair share of tax,” Revenue Minister Peter Dunne says.

“The effect of these rules is to limit foreign-owned banks’ interest deductions against the New Zealand tax base.

Encouraging personal responsibility and getting better value for taxpayers are key features of Budget 2011 changes to the student loan scheme, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne say.

The interest-free nature of the student loan scheme means that every dollar lent out today is worth only around 55 cents in today’s dollars. In 2010/11, the Government will lend out about $1.58 billion in student loans.

Changes to KiwiSaver will encourage a higher level of private savings, make the scheme more financially sustainable and build a large pool of local capital, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne say.

“While KiwiSaver has been very effective in attracting new members, it has done so at a high cost to taxpayers, with the scheme costing the Government over $1 billion a year in subsidies and tax breaks," Mr English says.

The Government is making changes that will better target Working for Families to lower income earners and ensure its cost remains sustainable into the future, Finance Minister Bill English, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne say.

Working for Families will be altered over time so that eventually the scheme has:

Media headlines today comparing dairy farmers' tax bills with those of the average wage earner were based on "an inexcusable fudging of turnover and income," Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne has announced that the deemed rate of return for taxing foreign investment fund interests has been set at 8.52% for the 2010–11 income year, down from 9.12% for the previous income year.

The deemed rate is set annually and is one of the methods that can be used to calculate income from foreign investment fund interests.

The rate is based on an average of the five-year Government stock rate at the end of each quarter, to which a 4% margin is added.

The rate was set by Order in Council yesterday.
 

A bill tabled in Parliament today will provide real and practical help through the tax system to the people of Canterbury, Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said.

“Much has been said and written about the February earthquake. This bill represents concrete action to provide help that is both useful and practical” he said.

Mr Dunne said that the Taxation (Canterbury Earthquake Measures) Bill focused on the tax treatment of a range of situations where people could be negatively affected by current tax law.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne today announced proposed changes to depreciation rules aimed at giving Christchurch businesses further tax relief, but with two of the measures to be extended to general tax law.

He said Cabinet agreed yesterday to three proposed changes in the rules for the tax treatment of depreciation, specifically around rollover relief, timing of deemed sales of destroyed insured assets, and losses on buildings.

Payroll Giving to New Zealand charities has hit the $2 million milestone in just 15 months, Revenue Minister and the architect of the scheme, Peter Dunne, said today.

“The scheme raised $1.4 million for charities in its first 12 months to January this year, and it has really taken off with a further $600,000 in the first three months of this year.

“This scheme is a win-win for all concerned,” Mr Dunne said.

New tax rules announced today by Revenue Minister Peter Dunne will remove a barrier to non-residents investing into New Zealand.

The changes are contained in a Supplementary Order Paper to the Taxation (Tax Administration and Remedial Matters) Bill 2010 released today by Mr Dunne.

He said that the rules for non-resident investors in PIEs will be aligned with those for direct investment to ensure fairness of tax treatment.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne announced today that Inland Revenue is taking the first steps towards implementing new business-to-business (B2B) technology that will help New Zealand businesses cut compliance costs and make it easier to manage their tax affairs.

“Last year we consulted with New Zealanders about using online services to make tax easier.

“From tomorrow, tax agents will have improved access to their clients’ key account information, via their tax management software packages” Mr Dunne said.

The Government has put in place several tax relief measures to help Christchurch residents and businesses trying to get back on their feet after last month’s earthquake, Finance Minister Bill English and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne announced today.

“With the end of the tax year rapidly approaching, businesses and employers in Christchurch and around New Zealand need some certainty about the tax issues arising from the Canterbury earthquakes,” Mr English said.