Frustrated business taxpayers received some help in the budget , Polson Higgs tax partner Michael Turner said yesterday.
"For the first time in many years there are a number of tax initiatives in this year's budget, which both businesses and individuals will look upon favourably.
"Those initiatives, however, have been introduced at a time when the economic outlook is uncertain, so it is difficult to predict to what extent that will impact on people's outlooks."
Announcements on lowering costs for New Zealand businesses appeared to follow a government discussion document issued on December 5 last year, he said.
While the budget day announcement largely mirrored the discussion document, there were further taxpayer-friendly initiatives included that had not been previously outlined.
In particular, taxpayers had for years been frustrated by Inland Revenue's "use of money" interest rates charged on under-paid tax, Mr Turner said.
The rate was currently set at 14.24%, which many saw as penal.
Lifting the "safe harbour" threshold for an individual before they were subject to the "use of money" interest rates from $35,000 to $50,000 would remove many individuals from the regime, simplifying their tax calculations and reducing their interest rates.
Additionally, lifting the GST registration threshold from a turnover of $40,000 to $50,000, together with some changes regarding how people must file PAYE and fringe benefit returns, had all been well received, he said.
However, Deloitte Dunedin tax partner Steve Thompson was not as generous in his comments, saying the budget did nothing to keep New Zealand businesses in the country.
"To the extent that those New Zealand businesses require foreign capital, measures are needed to ensure that this foreign capital can happily co-exist with domestic investors."
Initiatives to attract new businesses and people to New Zealand, and to encourage some people to earn more were also needed, he said.
Such measures were key building blocks to providing comparable opportunities and wages to what existed three hours away in Australia.
"The personal tax debate is overpowering at the moment but it pales into relative insignificance when the context of opportunities and real wages are overlaid into the debate," Mr Thompson said.
