We will continue to focus on helping customers most in need of our assistance to get the payments they are entitled to and to meet their payment obligations. We will continue to be empathetic to and supportive of customers who are struggling, to help them do the right thing. However, one size does not fit all and we will continue to investigate where necessary. For example, our community education approach provides new business owners with the information they need at the time they set their business up, to help increase their resilience.
We are also working with other agencies to ensure that customers get consistent messages and find dealing with government as easy as possible. This will help support a more unified Public Service that has customers at its centre.
For new products and services, we are increasingly building in checks at the start. This saves time for both customers and Inland Revenue by stopping incorrect applications and ensuring people receive only the payments they are entitled to.
We can quickly collate and make sense of the large variety of data we collect and be more proactive when we see things that are not right. We can move more quickly to help customers get back on track and tailor how we work with customers to help them pay and receive the right amounts.
Increasingly third parties, such as tax intermediaries and software providers, are involved in delivering services to customers. We will continue to work with others in both the public and private sectors to improve outcomes for customers. For example, we will continue to work with the Ministry of Social Development on better processes for people moving in and out of work and to help those who have debt with both agencies.