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Inland Revenue Department (New Zealand)

Inland Revenue or Inland Revenue Department (IRD; Māori: Te Tari Taake) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on tax policy, collecting and disbursing payments for social support programmes, and collecting tax.

History

Inland Revenue started out as the Land Tax Department in 1878. The department was renamed the Land and Income Tax Department in 1892 with the central office set up in Wellington.

Only in 1952, when the organisation joined with the Stamp Duties Department, was the organisation known as the Inland Revenue Department.

In 1995, a Rewrite Advisory Panel was established to consider and advise on issues arising during the rewriting of the income tax legislation, as part of New Zealand tax reform arising from the Working Party on the Reorganisation of the Income Tax Act 1976. The panel was disestablished in 2014 at the completion of the tax reform.[4]

Inland Revenue's Māori name, Te Tari Taake, means 'The Department of Tax'. Despite long vowels in Māori now being most commonly expressed with macrons over the vowel rather than double vowels, the department continues to use the double vowel due to the resemblance of the word tāke to the English word take.[5]

Service delivery

In 2021-22, Inland Revenue collected $100.6 billion in tax revenue, [6] which helped pay for the services that all New Zealanders benefit from such as social security and welfare, health and education. Other services included law and order, housing and community development, environmental protection, defence, transport, and heritage, culture and recreation.

In recent years, Inland Revenue has undergone business transformation activities aimed at simplifying the tax and social benefits process of receiving and paying taxes. As of 2019, these changes have resulted in a reduction of $60 million in administrative costs and an increase of $90 million in additional revenue through compliance and reduced effort for small to medium-sized businesses. [7] In 2021, further business transformation activities were undertaken, including an upgrade to myIR, their secure online service, which has made it easier for customers to manage their tax and payments online.

In 2020, Inland Revenue delivered a change to the revenue system for individuals where every taxpayer account for income tax, Working for Families, KiwiSaver, student loans and the end-to-end processing of PAYE moved into Inland Revenue’s new tax and revenue technology system.

The department administers the following social support programmes:

Acts and regulations administered

Legislation administered by Inland Revenue includes:[8]

Criticisms

Inland Revenue has been criticised for what are seen as heavy handed tactics when forcing payment from debtors, specifically those owing tax arrears and child support payments, and for charging excessive penalties on debts which result in debtors falling into a cycle whereby they are unable to pay the growing amounts they owe. The approach of Inland Revenue has been implicated in a number of suicides and other acts of self-harm.[10][11][12]

The number of people threatening self-harm in phone calls to Inland Revenue has trended down consistently over the last three years. Between January and August 2019, 168 people contacted Inland Revenue threatening self-harm. That compares to 292 for the 2018 calendar year; 306 for 2017; and 334 for 2016.[13]

Awards

List of ministers

The Minister of Revenue is the political office of minister for the department of Inland Revenue. Since November 2023, the position has been held by Simon Watts.

Key

  Liberal  Reform  United  Labour  National  United  United Future

See also

References

  1. ^ "Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Inland Revenue Department. 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Total Statement of departmental budgeted and actual expenses and capital expenditure". Inland Revenue. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Watts, Simon - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Plain English tax panel disestablished" (Press release). 2 December 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  5. ^ Goldsmith, Paul (13 July 2012). "Taxes - Tax, ideology and international comparisons". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  6. ^ a b "IRD Annual Report 2022" (PDF).
  7. ^ "IRD Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Nature and scope of IR functions from Statement of Intent 2011-14". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Legislation and regulations (Who we are)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Self-harm threats soar for those who owe IRD". 7 October 2014.
  11. ^ "What's the Single Largest Cause of Bankruptcy in New Zealand?".
  12. ^ "Suicide concerns rise for farmers as dairy downturn takes its toll". 28 April 2016.
  13. ^ "TVNZ".
  14. ^ "Public Service Day Awards 2022".
  15. ^ "Spirit of Service Awards 2021".
  16. ^ "Public Service Day Awards 2019".
  17. ^ "Spirit Service Awards 2019".
  18. ^ "IPANZ Public Sector Excellence Awards".
  19. ^ "NZ CIO Awards 2018".

External links