This category is limited to the provision of services to help Ministers fulfil their responsibilities to Parliament and the New Zealand public, other than policy decision-making responsibilities, and to provide information and assistance to the public to make them aware of their obligations and entitlements.
What we do
We provide services and information to help taxpayers and other customers meet their payment obligations and receive payments they are entitled to, and help Ministers fulfil their responsibilities to Parliament and the New Zealand public.
We provide certainty and clarity through public guidance, taxpayer rulings and advice, dispute reviews and an escalation service for technical issues.
How we performed
This year, we focused on supporting customers who were affected by the adverse weather events and economic conditions.
We considered web and voice channels together to deliver the best customer outcome over time. Overall, customer contacts are declining due to a reduction in delivery of Government priorities such as COVID-19 support and Cost of Living Payments. This is enabling us to shift our focus from dealing with the immediate and urgent to a wider range of work.
Although our overall contacts have declined (3.9 million in 2022–23 compared to 4.2 million in 2021–22), we were under additional pressure during the peak 2023 individual income tax assessment process and had to provide more assessments over a shorter time. As at 30 June 2023, an additional 169,000 assessments (including 160,000 debit assessments) had been issued compared to the same time the previous year.
| Channel | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front of house | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Paper | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Voice | 3.9 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
| Web | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
We continued to give certainty and clarity, developing public guidance, statements and rulings on various topics including:
- A statement on our position on the general anti-avoidance rule. This provides certainty and clarity for tax advisors and their clients and strengthens tax compliance in commercial transactions. Read more about this here.
Certainty for larger companies - Guidance on the application of the new interest limitation rules and the main home exclusion from the brightline tests.
- Updating and extending the period for the public ruling on crypto-assets, providing clarity on the tax treatment of crypto-assets as employee payments.
- Publishing a decision on provisional tax liabilities to clarify tax implications for taxpayers who receive one-off payments that have not been taxed at source.
- Updating guidance on GST issues to provide better clarity on what taxable activity is when payments are made to directors and/or board members.
- Updating guidance on GST issues when schools and early childcare centres can charge GST to parents, ensuring liabilities align with the intentions of Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga the Ministry of Education.
We also give certainty through taxpayer rulings, giving our interpretation of how the law applies in specific circumstances. This year, we ruled on arrangements worth $11.17 billion with associated tax of more than $2.97, billion.
The significant transactions we ruled on involved business disposals and reorganisations, financing arrangements, bank capital structure requirements, life insurance and reinsurance and infrastructure transactions, including with overseas investment. We often ruled on the application of general and specific anti-avoidance provisions.
Performance measure results
This year, we achieved 8 out of 9 measures for the Services to Ministers and to Inform the Public about Entitlements and Meeting Obligations’ category in the ‘Services for Customers’ multi-category appropriation, a similar result to 2021–22 when we achieved 10 out of 12 measures.
| 2021-22 actual | Performance measure | 2022-23 target | 2022-23 actual | 2023-24 target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Measure | Percentage of customers who agree they found it easy to get the information they needed1 | 70% | 72% (achieved) | 70% |
| 4 minutes 14 seconds | Average speed to answer telephone calls | 4 minutes 30 seconds or less | 4 minutes 47 seconds (not achieved) |
4 minutes 30 seconds or less |
| Not achieved—The time it takes to answer a phone call is a key contributor towards a positive experience for customers. During our peak periods we adjust our resourcing to best manage the customer experience across all our channels, for example around key events such the individual income tax assessments. However it does mean our ability to respond to some customers in a timely manner is affected. In 2022–23 there were 2.1 million attempted calls, 10% fewer than in 2021–22. We answered 63% of calls received compared with 56% in 2021–22. | ||||
| 100% | Percentage of rulings reports, adjudication reports and public items that meet the applicable purpose, logic, alternatives, consultation, and practicality standards | 100% | 100% (achieved) | 100% |
| 100% | Percentage of public items (including relevant public consultation) completed within 18 months of allocation |
85% | 93.3% (achieved) | Measure retired see page below2 |
| 94.7% | Percentage of adjudication cases completed within 10 weeks of receipt | 90% | 90.5% (achieved) | Measure retired see page below2 |
| 92.5% | Percentage of taxpayer ruling applications that have a draft ruling completed within 10 weeks of receipt | 90% | 99.1% (achieved) | Measure retired 2 |
| 100% | Percentage of non-qualifying ruling applications that have a draft ruling completed within 6 months of receipt | 90% | 94.7% (achieved) | Measure retired 2 |
| 93.9% | Percentage of submissions by the applicant on any draft ruling responded to within 1 month of receipt | 90% | 94.4% (achieved) | Measure retired 2 |
| 100% | Percentage of short-process rulings that have a draft ruling completed within 6 weeks of receipt | 90% | 94.4% (achieved) | Measure retired see page below2 |
1Actual performance measured using a sample of the customer population from our Customer Experience and Perceptions Survey. The survey asks customers to rate their experiences on a 7-point scale.
2 Changes to measures and targets
Results represent customers who gave a score of 5 or more. All targets are unaudited.
What it cost
| Actual 2022 ($000) | Actual 2023 ($000) | Unaudited revised budget 2023 ($000) | Unaudited budget 2023 ($000) | Unaudited forecast 2024 ($000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | |||||
| $268,884 | Revenue from the Crown | $327,767 | $327,767 | $311,933 | $309,031 |
| $1,350 | Other revenue | $860 | $1,045 | $1,045 | $1,045 |
| $270,234 | Total revenue | $328,627 | $328,812 | $312,978 | $310,076 |
| $256,119 | Total expenses | $312,978 | $328,812 | $312,978 | $310,076 |
| $14,115 | Net surplus/(deficit) | $15,649 | – | – | – |