Inland Revenue - Tax policy Tax Policy

News and information about the Government's tax policy work programme, including:
- proposed changes to the laws that Inland Revenue is responsible for
- updates on the progress of bills through Parliament
- policy announcements

Tax policy news

7 August 2020
Special report on tax amendments in COVID-19 legislation

A special report on the tax amendments in the COVID-19 Response (Further Management Measures) Legislation Act (No 2) 2020 is now available.

The Act was enacted on 6 August 2020. Coverage of the tax amendments in the new Act will be published in the September edition of the Tax Information Bulletin.

9 July 2020
Repeal of child support incremental penalties proposed

A Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) to the Child Support Amendment Bill was released today by the Hon Stuart Nash, Minister of Revenue. The proposed changes in the SOP would repeal child support incremental penalties and simplify the penalty write-off provisions.

For more information see the SOP, revised disclosure statement, supplementary commentary, and the supplementary analysis report.

6 July 2020
Application date for loan scheme extended

The Government has announced that the application date for the Small Business Cashflow Scheme has been extended to 31 December 2020.

See the Minister of Revenue’s media statement for more information.

26 June 2020
New tax measures announced

A Supplementary Order Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020–21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill contains two measures proposed by the Government. These are:

- Amendments to simplify the administration of unclaimed money, and
- Adjustments to the threshold for an automatic write-off of tax owing for individuals.

For more information on these, see the Minister's media statement,* SOP, disclosure statement, the accompanying commentary and the regulatory impact assessment.

19 June 2020
Guidance on recent COVID-19 tax legislation is now available

Guidance on recent COVID-19-related legislation is now available. It covers the loss carry-back scheme, administrative flexibility for Inland Revenue, the Small Business Cashflow Scheme, and the tax treatment of payments to New Zealanders stranded overseas.

The changes were included in the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Other Regulatory Urgent Measures) Act 2020 (enacted on 30 April 2020) and the COVID-19 Response (Further Management Measures) Legislation Act 2020 (enacted on 15 May 2020).

The guidance will be published in the August 2020 edition of the Tax Information Bulletin.

Tax Working Group

For the terms of reference, news, reports, and other information see the Tax Working Group's website.

Information releases

We now proactively release Cabinet papers, minutes and supporting papers for tax policy related decisions. View the latest information releases.

Highlights

KiwiSaver Bill enacted

The Taxation (KiwiSaver, Student Loans, and...

COVID-19 tax bill enacted

The COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill passed through all...