Where’s my refund?
Top news stories this week
- Where’s My Refund
- More about PIE’s
- What’s FBT
Terry reviews the “wellbeing” budget
Terry was part of the Budget lockup in Wellington yesterday and he gives us his insights and observations into the 2019 “Wellbeing” budget in The Week in Tax podcast.
The differences in approach to planning
- The budget looks beyond GDP to the 4 “capitals” of wellbeing in the Living Standards Framework
- The “whole of Government” approach to solving these challenges
Don’t end up in court for tax evasion
- How not to end up in court defending a $4m tax evasion charge
– Investigators from Inland Revenue should not be under-estimated as they are highly skilled, motivated and are looking for pattens e.g. gross profit ratios for similar businesses. - Welfare Expert Advisory Group Report released
– Up to $5.2 Billion pa needed to overhaul New Zealand’s social welfare system to incentivise people back into work among other changes
– Tax implications for clients claiming Working for Families Tax Credits. Major changes proposed around amounts paid and abatement rates. - Problems with overseas mortgages and investments
– These are part of the FIF regime – a topic so complex there’s no Inland Revenue guide to it! Due to changes in currency exchange rates income has arisen so the £ mortgage value hasn’t changed but the equivalent in NZ$ has created a change in relative valuation. There’s hope on the horizon. - Inland Revenue business transformation release 3 has gone live – the team apparently consumed a significant volume of pizza and chocolate!
Full Transcript
Don’t spend your tax refund!
The Week in Tax – back to normal after the Government’s decision on TWG report?
International tax pressure is building to create a Digital Services Tax because OECD’s BEPS initiative is growing consensus.
Why you shouldn’t be spending any refund from Inland Revenue that turns up unexpectedly. Unexplained credit balances sometimes are paid to prevent interest payments to Inland Revenue and these are getting refunded!
Expect the report from Welfare Expert Advisory Group soon. They consider the interaction between tax and social assistance.
- Inland Revenue overpayments
- OECD model tax convention
- One article about what’s happening next
- UK estimate of underpaid tax
Next week’s guest is Marjan van den Belt
Full transcript and links
Andrea Black and the Tax Working Group
Andrea joins Terry to talk about what it was like working as the independent advisor to the Tax Working Group. They discuss whether Inland Revenue is under-resourced; The differences between the 2001, 2008 and 2018 Tax Working Groups as Andrea was involved with all three and whether it was all “worth it”.
Episode transcript
The audio from the first part of the episode was incomplete so the audio is just the last 8 minutes – but the full transcript is below.