Do you agree with these principles to guide the development of digital services?

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One size doesn't fit all as there are always going to be people who need access to paper based filing. In the electronic space however we don't need to over complicate systems and channels. For example, do we really need mobile phone apps when web browser services should suffice.

Access to knowledge is also important. It is not sufficient to post information on a website - a suitably powerful search engine is also required that incorporates effective optional filters. The search engine in the current IRD website is useless, as any search results are swamped with irrelevant results; this renders information unavailable to the user.

Non resident with tax losses carried forward. No income derived in New Zealand in current year. May return to New Zealand to live and work at some time over the next 5 to 10 years. Why is it necessary to continue filing (annually) IR3NR to retain the tax losses carried forward ? This seems to be a lot of unnecessary work for the taxpayer (or their agent), on top of the cost, time and effort incurred by IRD.

There is no one size fits all and flexibility is a key requirement of any system that wants to survive and thrive (something Worksafe needs to relearn!!). But as I have posted before why doesn't Inland Revenue sign up with Xero and allow business to automatically pay taxes using their software. Or if that's too hard allow us to run our bank feeds directly through some IRD accounting software for no cost. That way you know exactly what our business's are doing and what taxes we owe or are owed and we don't have to waste money on expensive software or accountants.

Yes

The priority for the customer, tax payer, is , is my private information going to be secure? How can I have confidence that those in power will not misuse their access to my private information and will not abuse their power? The primary principle here must be to design a robust system that protects the customer tax payer with appropriate controls to protect their privacy and data protection and to give them proper re-dress if the Tax Department gets it wrong. You have not addressed any of this.

What about the controls places people can go to get re-dress simply and without procedural hassel? In order to build people's trust in this process you need to address the issue of misuse of power by government and how we the little people can get re-dress otherwise why should we trust this process?

Principles should encompass simplicity, speed and accuracy. Using technology to enable much more efficient tax calculation and payment systems is smart, just don't get some behemoth consultancy to do it that will take 10 years, be overspent by a billion dollars and then be obsolete by the time it's up and running! Leverage existing systems.

I think privacy is important. I don't think out accounts should be linked to IRD, we should input that information ourselves in an online or paper based efficient system.

I think you should separate out the principles when asking whether we think they are sound as I don't agree with all of them. I think this survey needs more specificity if it is to inform any changes that we may or may not agree with.

definitely no one size fits all - some will love the online forms, some will still prefer paper. I am concerned with Privacy, security and accuracy of details. as a small business, who files an IR3 under the personal not business section, I don't want my income details populated as they change each year. I also don't want my personal details and bank account number online - no matter how secure you say the site is, no site is secure. this should still be a choice to be digital or not.

Principle 3 needs to have added "and without stringent testing on a diverse range of real end users"

I have found using the internet difficult as I was timed out, couldn't go back to see info or forward to see further questions if I hadn't completed the page. All sorts of things which made me more than annoyed, hence I have asked for paper tax packs so as to do the tax, then I can put it online when I was sure I put the right stuff in the right places. When requesting paper tax pack it has been a nightmare. I should be able to ask for a tax pack and have the tax pack sent out. For me I wouldn't ask for a tax pack, if I didn't need a tax pack. It's how I work my tax out. I need both paper & then I can comfortably fill in the info and boxes etc on line.

Good to see sustained effort in assessing the costs/benefits - hopefully if there is ever a tipping point with this project the Governance members are brave enough to say stop

Whatever form the digital services will take, please ensure that it doesn't force people to use a specific platform, vendor or operating system. Ideally, a simple, web-based service, which does not require the user to have a particular vendor's hardware or software. Not everyone uses Windows or Apple, Internet Explorer, Android, iPhones or iPads. However, everyone can be served via a plain web site. The web site should not use Flash or rely on the upload of documents in proprietary formats (Word documents). Why force people to spend money on those things? Instead, a simple, mobile friendly web-site, which can be accessed from any browser, running on any operating system.

At the centre of your"Principles" graphic tax payers are called "customers". We are not your customers. We don't buy anything from the IRD. The IRD is purely a public service organisation and I wish it would stop calling me a customer. Think rightly about tax payers and you'll behave, if not rightly then somewhat better (more appropriately) towards us. As a tax payer, I expect to be treated with utmost respect simply because I am a human being, a revenue provider to government, and a contributing, law-abiding and responsible citizen of this nation. I would like to be able to engage with the IRD using simple language, simple systems, and with fair and equitable outcomes. I'm not buying these things off you; I am expecting nothing less than these things from you as of right. Having said that, I have to add that, on many occasions, these are what I receive from IRD staff, but not always. So well done. Now let's do better.

In the news recently there were comments regarding 'cash jobs' not being taxed. I recently submitted to Mr English's office a suggestion which would overcome this and other practices which result in loss of tax. I understand thus was passed onto the Minister or Revenue. If the Government were to institute a FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX then ALL TRANSACTIONS would be taxed . Income Tax, GST all forms of tax could be replaced. The Government tax take would increase and there would be reduction in ways of tax avoidance.

It is absolutely essential that those who are not computer-oriented or do not have home access to the Internet can still deal with a person in a town close to where they live.