Deloitte praises simpler tax law

Kyle Cameron.
Kyle Cameron.
Recent moves to simplify the details in Government legislation had been well-received and businesses were crying out for more, Deloitte Dunedin partner Kyle Cameron said.

The realisation by the Government that most of the tax revenue from particular measures came from a small number of businesses meant "de minimis'' (lacking significance) thresholds could be put in place to remove 90% of businesses from needing to comply with the detail - a step in the right direction.

"The Government needs to keep this bit between its teeth and continue to deliver further simplification measures in the Budget.''

In the Budget, business would welcome leadership on alternatives for funding local infrastructure, he said.

Areas experiencing rapid growth through immigration or increased tourism had huge infrastructure needs.

Requiring local ratepayers to fund those resulted in the costs not necessarily falling where the benefit lay.

Similarly, areas not growing had little ability to continue increasing rates to fund infrastructure spending that might facilitate growth.

"The Government needs [to lead] the way with some alternative funding approaches such as hotel bed taxes and other usage charges rather than the cost falling on landowners.''

The Government had made good progress on updating the GST system to remove advantages that might be available through importing services offshore, such as Netflix, compared with sourcing from a New Zealand-based supplier, Mr Cameron said.

The tax system should be designed to support New Zealand businesses rather than encouraging New Zealanders to source goods from overseas.

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