General policy statement
This taxation omnibus Bill introduces amendments to the following Acts:
Goods and Services Tax Act 1985;
Tax Administration Act 1994;
Student Loan Scheme Act 2011; and
Taxation (KiwiSaver, Student Loans, and Remedial Matters) Act 2020.
This Bill also revokes the following regulations:
Co-operative Dairy Companies Income Tax Regulations 1955;
Cooperative Milk Marketing Companies Income Tax Regulations 1960; and
Cooperative Pig Marketing Companies Income Tax Regulations 1964.
Broadly, the policy proposals in this Bill fall into 3 categories. The first category sets the annual rates of income tax for the 2021–22 tax year.
The second of these categories contains proposals aimed at improving current settings within a broad-base, low rate framework. This framework helps to ensure that taxes are fair and efficient and impede economic growth as little as possible. It also helps keep compliance costs low and minimises opportunities for avoidance and evasion. The framework underpins the Government’s revenue strategy and helps maintain confidence that the tax system is fair, which is crucial to encouraging voluntary compliance.
Although New Zealand has relatively strong tax settings, it is important to maintain the tax system and ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose. Changes in the economic environment, business practice, or interpretation of the law can mean that the tax system becomes unfair, inefficient, complex or uncertain. The tax system needs to be responsive to these concerns.
The third category relates to proposals aimed at improving the settings for tax administration, the goods and services tax regime, KiwiSaver and social policy rules administered by Inland Revenue.
The main policy measures within this Bill have been developed in accordance with the Generic Tax Policy Process (GTPP). It is a very open and interactive engagement process between the public and private sectors. This process helps to ensure that tax and social policy changes are well thought through. The GTTP is designed to ensure better, more effective policy development through the early consideration of all aspects, and likely impacts, of proposals. The GTPP increases opportunities for public consultation.
The GTPP means that major tax initiatives are subject to public scrutiny at all stages of their development. As a result, Inland Revenue and Treasury officials have the opportunity to develop more practical options for reform by drawing on information provided by the private sector and the people who will be affected.
Confirmation of annual rates of income tax for the 2021–22 tax year
The Income Tax Act 2007 requires the rates of income tax to be set each year by an annual taxing Act. The Bill proposes that the annual rates of income tax for the 2021–22 tax year be set at the rates currently specified in schedule 1, part A of the Income Tax Act 2007.
That schedule has been amended effective from 1 April 2021 to include a tax rate of 0.390 for taxable income of $180,001 upwards.
GST-related reforms
Exclusion of cryptoassets from GST and the financial arrangements rules
The Bill proposes the exclusion of cryptoassets from GST and the financial arrangements rules to ensure that these rules do not impose barriers to developing new products, raising capital, and investing through cryptoassets. The Bill additionally proposes allowing GST-registered businesses that raise funds through issuing cryptoassets with similar features to debt or equity securities to claim input credits for their capital-raising costs.
Domestic leg of the international transport of goods
The Bill proposes that the domestic leg of the international transportation of goods be zero-rated. This is intended to ensure that partially irrecoverable GST costs are not imbedded in the final price of the goods paid by the consumer and that the tax system does not create incentives to pick one transport carrier over another. This will bring New Zealand’s rules into line with those of Australia, which similarly zero-rate the domestic leg of the international transport of goods.
Improvements to the GST apportionment rules
The Bill proposes 2 improvements to the GST apportionment rules in the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 (GST Act). These rules are used to determine GST input tax deductions when an asset is used partly to conduct a GST-registered business and partly for a private or exempt use. The first reform would ensure that the apportionment rules do not overtax sales of appreciating assets that are partly used for business and partly used privately (such as farmhouses and home offices) by allowing a deduction that correctly reflects the non-taxable use. The second reform would reduce compliance costs for smaller GST-registered suppliers by allowing them to apply to Inland Revenue to approve an alternative apportionment method (this application process is currently limited to large taxpayers with more than $24 million of annual turnover).
Secondhand input tax credits on supplies between associated persons
The Bill proposes an amendment to allow a secondhand goods input tax credit on supplies between associated persons equal to the tax fraction of the original cost of the good at the time it was purchased by the first person in the chain of associated persons. This will ensure registered persons are not overtaxed in respect of land they purchased from an unregistered associated person.
Modernising the GST invoicing rules and information and record-keeping requirements
The Bill proposes amendments that modernise the GST invoicing rules by replacing the requirements for the issue of documents with requirements for the provision of information, with no prescribed formats. The proposed information requirements will replace the formal requirements that registered persons must create and retain tax invoices for taxable supplies and also credit notes and debit notes for adjustments to taxable supplies. The processes for calculating GST payable for each taxable period remain unchanged.
Clarifying rules for groups of companies
The Bill proposes amendments to the rules relating to groups of companies. An amendment introduces the term GST group for a group of companies that choose to register as a group under the GST Act. Other amendments clarify the application of the GST rules for the representative member as the maker and receiver of supplies for a GST group.
Granting 11 charities overseas donee status
The Bill proposes 11 New Zealand charities with overseas charitable purposes be granted overseas donee status and listed in schedule 32 of the Income Tax Act 2007 with effect from 1 April 2021. The Bill additionally proposes a change to the sunset clause for the New Zealand Memorial Trust – Le Quesnoy’s donee status. The Bill will grant this Trust overseas donee status until 31 March 2025. The Bill also proposes to remove 8 charities whose activities have ceased.
Local authority taxation: dividends and deductions
The Bill proposes a series of measures to improve the integrity of local government taxation and help prevent local authorities from effectively transferring the benefit of their exempt status to their taxable council-controlled organisations.
Changes to the fair dividend rate foreign currency hedges rules
The Bill proposes a series of technical amendments to the fair dividend rate foreign currency hedges rules (FDR FX hedges rules). These are designed to improve the functionality of the FDR FX hedges rules from a practical perspective and reduce compliance costs for taxpayers with large numbers of hedges.
Use of tax pooling to satisfy a backdated tax liability
The Bill proposes allowing the use of tax pooling to satisfy a tax obligation where there is no existing tax assessment or the tax obligation has not been quantified. This proposal includes safeguards to avoid incentivising the non-filing of tax returns by taxpayers.
Removal of sunset provision from COVID-19 information-sharing provision
The Bill proposes the removal of the time limit from the COVID-19 information-sharing provision, which will allow it to remain in effect without the need for repeated extension through Orders in Council. This is designed to “future-proof” this provision by ensuring that Inland Revenue is able to share necessary information throughout the life-cycle of the pandemic and the initiatives that support New Zealand’s recovery.
Penalising the sale or possession of sales suppression software
The Bill proposes the introduction of penalties on the sale and acquisition of sales suppression software. This initiative is designed to address the serious risk that sales suppression software poses to the integrity of New Zealand’s tax base.
Remedial amendments
A number of remedial matters are also addressed in the Bill. These include:
aligning the amount of a deemed dividend and interest denied when a restricted transfer pricing adjustment has been made;
clarifying that decisions of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in terms of the remedial powers are not a “disputable decision” for the purposes of the Tax Administration Act 1994;
aligning the investment income information filing dates for some payers of investment income with their 6-monthly payment dates;
repealing transitional co-existence provisions;
various amendments to the 10-year bright-line test to align the rules with the policy intent, including ensuring that a main home that takes longer than 12 months to construct is not subject to the bright-line test;
clarifying the treatment of employer KiwiSaver contributions;
amendments to the hybrid and branch mismatch rules;
administrative amendments to the Child Support Act 1991;
preventing the conversion of capital gains to taxable distributions following a share-for-share exchange;
preserving the non-association of a beneficiary of a security trust;
replacing a knowledge offence in relation to GST invoicing requirements with a strict liability offence;
aligning the treatment of joint and several liability of GST groups with income tax groups;
removing fax as a mode of communication between taxpayers and Inland Revenue;
aligning the treatment of non-active estates with non-active trusts by no longer requiring non-active estates to file tax returns;
repealing existing information-sharing provisions (ACC and MBIE) to avoid the duplication of authorising provisions;
removing the power to repeal the SFO information-sharing clause, as it is no longer necessary;
clarifying the meaning of “revenue information” and “sensitive revenue information”;
reinserting a penalty for a failure to keep taxpayer information confidential;
allowing the refund of ancillary taxes; and
addressing shareholding continuity issues arising from corporate spin-outs.
A number of minor remedial matters are also addressed in the Bill, consisting mainly of correcting minor faults of expression, reader’s aids, and incorrect cross-references.
Detail of further remedial amendments is included in the Commentary to the Bill.