Archive of Speeches and Presentations

Our Job = Improve Compliance
25 October 2006

Presentation given by David Butler at the Trans-Tasman Business Circle Boardroom Series

---

Introduction

Inland Revenue’s primary outcome is to improve the economic and social wellbeing of New Zealanders.

Our policy role is to provide ministers with robust and comprehensive advice on the design of our tax system and other areas that interact with it. In addition to having a strong international focus in our work, we also interact with all New Zealand businesses and most people in New Zealand. Simply stated, what we do and the way we go about it can impact on the whole of New Zealand society.

In recent years we have been given additional responsibilities by government and we have shown that we are able to cope very successfully with a broader and more complex role. We can clearly show that the community believes we perform our role very well.

Looking ahead, we have set out some new aspirations for the future – our “desired future”. To enable us to achieve this future, we have reviewed how we organise ourselves to make sure we can deliver our new and existing business, develop a stronger focus on our customers and take advantage of all the skills of our people and new technologies.

I am proud of what our people have achieved, and I am confident that we are well placed to successfully deal with all the challenges we will face in the future.

David Butler
Commissioner of Inland Revenue
October 2006

Inland Revenue's Desired Future

• Inland Revenue is responsive in meeting the changing and increasing expectations of government and society
• We make it easy for customers to get it right and hard to get it wrong
• Society has confidence that appropriate action will be taken against customers who do not comply
• Increasingly, paying tax is seen as contributing to society
• We are professional, approachable, effective and efficient

Government Priorities

Economic Transformation
working to progress our economic transformation to a high income, knowledge based market economy, which is both innovative and creative and provides a unique quality of life to all New Zealanders
Families - young and old
all families, young and old have the support and choices they need to be secure and be able to reach their full potential within our knowledge based economy
National identity
All New Zealanders to be able to take pride in who and what we are, through our arts, culture, film, sports and music, our appreciations of our natural environment, our understanding of our history and our stance on international issues

Inland Revenue's primary Outcome

• Improving the economic and social wellbeing of New Zealanders

Inland Revenue's intermediate Outcomes

• Revenue is available to fund government programmes through people meeting payment obligations of their own accord.
• People receive payments they are entitled to, enabling them to participate in society.

Our Charter

Our Charter
Inland Revenue collects money to pay for public services and helps people to meet their obligations. We work within the Inland Reveneue acts and other relevant laws. We also work in ways consistent with the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi.
How we will work with you
We will be prompt, courteous and professional. We will follow through on what we say we will do. We acknowledge your individual, cultural and special needs and will look for solutions to them. The person you are dealing with will give you their name. We will continually improve our service by collecting information about how we are doing and using it to raise our performance.
Reliable advice and information
We will provice you with reliable and correct advice and information about your entitlements and obligations. We will assist you to get in touch with the right people for your needs. We will be well-trained and competent. We will keep looking for new and better ways to give you advice and information.
Confidentiality and privacy
We respect your privacy and treat all information about us as private and confidential. Information you provide will be kept secure and will be used or disclosed only as required by law.
Consistency and equity
We will apply the law consistently so everyone gets their entitlements and pays the right amount. We will take your particular circumstances into account as far as the law allows us to.
Your right to question us
You can question the information, advice and service we give you. We will inform you about options available for resolving disagreements and we will work with you to reach an outcome quickly and simply. For this Charter to work effectively, we rely on each taxpayer to provide all the relevant information when dealing with Inland Revenue. Signed by: David Butler Commissioner of Inland Revenue

Keypoints from our tax payer charter:

• we will be prompt, courteous and professional—we acknowledge individual, cultural and special needs and look for solutions to them
• we will provide reliable and correct advice and information about entitlements and obligations
• we respect taxpayer privacy and treat all information about taxpayers as private and confidential
• we will apply the law consistently so that everyone gets their entitlements and pays the right amount we will take particular circumstances into account as far as the law allows
• taxpayers have the right to question the information, advice and service we provide
• we work in ways consistent with the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Our Strategic Direction

Our framework for our plans and tactics:

• Target and tailor our activities through understanding our customers
• Optimise organisational efficiency and reduce compliance costs over time
• Create an environment which promotes compliance
• Continually invest in our people and the tools to deliver our future outcomes

Target and tailor our activities through understanding our customers

To continually improve customer compliance over time, we need to understand what will influence different customer groups to voluntarily meet their obligations to the maximum extent possible - customer insight.

To do this we will develop approaches to understand what information we need as well as what risks to the revenue may arise. We want to be able to gain real insights into customer behaviours and attitudes. This knowledge will become part of our normal decision-making process so we can be a more responsive and agile organisation, in tune with the changing demands of society.

These insights will help us design and deliver future interactions for our customer and enable us to do the following across all the activities we administer:

• improve our ability to develop policy and provide advice to ministers
• design our future systems and processes to make it easy for customers to comply and hard to avoid
• respond to new or changing needs, and develop more innovative solutions
• develop and maintain channels that meet both the customers’ and our needs.

Optimise organisational efficiency and reduce compliance costs over time

To meet the growing expectations on us we must continually develop smarter ways of working and organising ourselves. At the same time, we must keep in mind our goals of delivering our outcomes and encouraging voluntary compliance. We will achieve this by focusing on:

• actively participating in delivering “joined up” services across government agencies to provide a seamless approach to customers
• making our processes easy to use, effective and efficient, by focusing on our high-volume transactions to actively encourage the use of low-cost channels and processes.
• making the most of the advantages of future “e” technology opportunities for both customers and Inland Revenue
• working collaboratively and gathering and sharing information smartly - making it readily available in a way that is coordinated, accurate and containing all the information to meet customers’ needs
• identifying and pursuing organisational cost savings
• developing our future workflows and processes to build a flexible and responsive organisation.

Reducing compliance costs
We also recognise the burden on customers in complying with the laws we administer. To reduce the associated risks of non-compliance we will:

• use the information and insights we gain to strengthen our ability to provide alternative and lower compliance cost solutions
• seek to reduce these burdens on our customers over time by continuing to make this an important consideration in policy development, systems design and delivery processes

Create an environment which promotes compliance

If we expect customers to meet their obligations voluntarily we must keep making it as easy a possible for them to do so. We also have a responsibility to make it hard to avoid meeting their obligations. We do this by creating an environment that informs customers of their obligations and encourages them to comply. We all have a role individually and collectively in maintaining a positive public profile of Inland Revenue within our society – this is integral to maintaining and improving voluntary compliance

Our compliance model

The model guides us in tailoring how we deal with our customers. It takes account of the factors that influence customer’s decisions and behaviours. We will use and refine the compliance model across all the activiites we administer. In applying the model we will:

• build strong relationships and partnerships – providing the right experience for customers through the right channels and making it easy to comply
• appropriately enforce the law to help move customers who have decided not to comply to a position where they are likely to do so in the future
• take an integrated approach, using both specialist and cross-functional teams to optimise our customer-understanding, risk assessment and compliacne model thinking.

Underpinning the model is the need for us to maintain and build on our core technical, legal and policy skills.

[ Larger version of image | Long description ]

Continually invest in our people and the tools to deliver our future outcomes

As a team of passionate and engaged people, equipped with the right tools and skills, we will successfully deliver our outcomes and achieve our desired future. We need an organisation where our people are technically-skilled and professional. It’s also important that we have the right tools and infrastructure to help us be an agile and technologically-smart organisation. We will continually invest in our people, the tools they use and the environments they operate within.

We will achieve this by ensuring our people:

• experience great leadership, with technical and people leadership being enhanced though succession planning and career development
• feel part of a learning organisation, sharing knowledge and learning from our collective experiences
• are proactively equipped with the right skills and experiences to do their current roles and to develop along their chosen career path. We will build on and enhance our critical skills such as legislative knowledge and relationship management
• are part of a passionate and engaged team who have clear goals and are recognised for their contribution and commitment.

Investment in our tools will focus on:

• ensuring our people have the right tools, including property, information, easy-to-use systems and processes
• continually investing in and maintaining a workplace that allows for ongoing agility in meeting our future objectives
• maintaining the integrity and sustainability of our systems and processes
• providing our customers with the right tools to make it easy for them to voluntarily comply.

Inland Revenue:

• Advises government, along with The Treasury, on tax policy and social policy measures
• Collects tax payments, child support and student loans
• Distributes family assistance, child support, paid parental leave and tax refunds and rebates
• Manages a customer base of 5.9 million (individuals, businesses, partnerships, trusts and other entities)
• Manages high volumes (2004/05)
  - 8.2 million customer contacts
  - 7.6 million returns
  - 7.7 million payments
• Works together with over 4,700 tax agents who represent 1.7 million customers
• Operates from 17 cities and towns
• Employs over 5,200 people

Key results

For the year ended 30 June 2005, Inland Revenue:

• Collected 85% of government’s revenue ($42 billion in 2004/05 and $44 billion in 2005/06)
• Received $510 million student loan repayments
• Collected and distributed $309 million in child support
• Distributed $520 million in family assistance
• Distributed $76 million in paid parental leave

Our online services include:

• Look at your tax account information
• Send and receive mail
• File tax returns
• File an employer schedule (ir-File)
• Register as an employer
• Register for GST
• Request a summary of earnings and/or personal tax summary
• Use the tax due date calculator
• Request forms and guides
• Make a general enquiry, complaint or compliment
• Arrange for an Inland Revenue business advisory officer visit
• Subscribe to Inland Revenue publications and newsletters

Attachment

Download attachment ›
PDF | 160kb | 12 pages

 

---

Corporate Communications
Inland Revenue

For all media enquiries phone: 04 890 1698

For general communications enquiries
Phone: (04) 890 1936
Email: corpcomm@ird.govt.nz
Fax: (04) 498 5809

P O Box 2198
12-22 Hawkestone Street
Wellington
New Zealand

  

Date published: 25 Oct 2006

Back to top