Source: New Zealand Parliament – Hansard
TAXATION PRINCIPLES REPORTING ACT REPEAL BILL
First Reading
Hon SIMON WATTS (Minister of Revenue): I present a legislative statement on the Taxation Principles Reporting Act Repeal Bill.
ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O‘Connor): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.
Hon SIMON WATTS: I move, That the Taxation Principles Reporting Act Repeal Bill be now read a first time.
The bill that we are considering today has one simple purpose: to repeal the Taxation Principles Reporting Act 2023. The Act it repeals is not an ordinary taxation Act. It imposes no taxes, nor does it remove taxes. It neither makes the tax system fairer nor less fair. What it does do is require the commissioner of Inland Revenue to commit resources to this make-work programme dreamed up by the former Government. In New Zealand we have a long history of a low rate – broad based tax system, and it is fitting that we have principles when it comes to tax that have never been in contention.
As the Minister of Revenue, I’ve signalled very clearly the principles this Government holds when it comes to tax. We want a tax system to be efficient and we want it to be effective. We want it to be focused on simplicity and compliance—making sure people pay their taxes they owe, cracking down on evasion, and making it easy to navigate the system and reduce complexity to reduce cost. We also think that Kiwis should be paying less tax, and I’m proud to say that on this side of the House we will deliver tax relief.
This Act has fundamental flaws beyond the lack of justification for which it was ever passed into law. Firstly, it is the right of an elected Government to devise, shape, and implement its tax objectives, such as those that I’ve just articulated. An elected Government should not have those ambitions hobbled by the views of an earlier Government on what constitutes a fair tax system—especially a Labour Government.
This Act paints a picture of the previous Government’s view on taxation using tax principles that it dreamed up. Yes, we all want to, and should strive for a fair tax system. But what is not fair is one view of fairness to crowd out the views of others. That is what this Act does. To be a valuable enduring, these principles, as they are described, need to be universally accepted by tax experts, the public, and across the political spectrum. In this Act, they are not.
In the various pieces of feedback the previous Government received when they passed this into law, there was a clear objection to the idea that the principles defined in the Act are widely understood or accepted, especially by those people who deal with this on a daily basis. Even the Treasury—even the Treasury said it could present a risk to the integrity—and I quote—”independence, and endurance of the reporting framework.”
As I said earlier, this legislation does not make the tax system fairer, however one describes that. It merely describes what a fairness is according to the previous Government. It also does not make tax or change tax settings, or make anyone pay more or less tax, but it does set the foundation for more taxation, particularly regarding wealth taxes. But what it does do, is it requires Inland Revenue to report on the performance of the tax system against these principles. There has been never any justification for why resources should be used to chase down information simply to make a point in regard to the previous Government instead of it focused on core taxation services.
It might be somewhat confusing there, why such a bill, which makes no changes to taxation and merely adds redundant reporting was passed into law in the first place. To answer that question, one only has to look at the Government that produced it. One whose wasteful spending drove an insatiable desire to squeeze every last cent out of the back pockets of hard-working Kiwis. This was a Government that worked behind the scenes on wealth taxes and job taxes, and the door is open again—not more than a few weeks after falling out of power, Labour is already back on the “tax the people more train”.
Revenue spokesperson Dr Deborah Russell said it might be time to “seriously look at capital gains”. Clearly, she has forgotten that her leader has tried to rule that out, or maybe there has been some information—
ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O‘Connor): Mr Watts, this is a legislative statement. First reading—you’re introducing a bill. You are straying away from what the convention is on that. Can I just remind you.
Hon SIMON WATTS: Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The Inland Revenue is a highly respected department with a strong history of managing highly complicated policy and operational areas. This Government, through the legislation that we’re placing on the Table today, will ensure that they are focused on ensuring they have the tools to make our tax system more straightforward, efficient, and better overall. We should not be wasting their time putting together reports on the last Government’s ideas of tax principles.
This bill repeals a bill that has no place in law, and it is right to consign it to the history as another example of unnecessary bureaucracy. Its repeal cannot come soon enough, and I won’t be using any more of the House’s time to discuss it. I commend the Taxation Principles Reporting Act Repeal Bill to the House.
ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Greg O‘Connor): The question is that the motion be agreed to.
