Further measures added to tax bill

Further policy measures have been added to the Taxation (International Taxation, Life Insurance, and Remedial Matters) Bill, which is nearing the end of its passage through Parliament. They are:

• changes to the financial arrangement rules in the Income Tax Act to reduce volatility in the timing of the recognition of income and expenditure when businesses prepare their financial statements under IFRS,
• extension of the range of circumstances under which Inland Revenue can offer relief from use-of-money interest when taxpayers are physically impeded by a disaster or similar event from paying their tax on time, and
• clarification of the policy intent of current provisions that allow life insurance companies to access refunds of overpaid tax in particular circumstances.

For more information on these and other changes to the bill see Supplementary Order Papers No 34 and No 35, both of which were released today.