NZPIF welcomes tax moves

Revenue Minister Todd McClay said the IRD was taking a proactive strategy to locate those who tried to avoid paying tax. He said it was showing big dividends.

McClay said the IRD had identified discrepancies, or differences between what taxes should have been paid and what actually was paid, of more than $195 million. Of that, $52.4 million was in the 12 months to June this year.

IRD looked at property developers speculating in the residential market, particularly in Auckland and Queenstown. They visited 2500 industry and other interest groups to raise awareness of their tax-related responsibilities, and they monitored 26,000 properties and property-related issues.

McClay said: “We take tax avoidance seriously. We spent $172 million on enforcement and compliance through tax auditing in 2012/13 for a return of $1.2 billion. That is a return on investment of $7.47:$1. For 2013/14, we spent $165 million for a return of $1.24 billion resulting in a return of investment of $8 for every dollar spent. We are getting results.”