Annual report - 2004 - Part 5
Report on our Charter commitments from the 2004 Annual Report - 3
Compliance model
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Our compliance model shapes our thinking about how we interact with customers and respond to any concerns we may have about compliance with the law. In many circumstances, providing educational services or improving access to information will result in taxpayers meeting their obligations under the law. Where it is clear that taxpayers have decided that they will not comply, our response is to use our powers and other approaches to ensure that obligations are met.
Industry Partnership initiative
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The Industry Partnership initiative was started two years ago to improve our relationship with the business community, particularly small business, and to address the cash economy. Since then, we have formed 14 relationships with industry sectors. The initiative has emphasised education and relationship building processes to improve compliance, along with debt and audit activity, and includes prosecutions in any cases of blatant evasion and fraud.
The publicity given to recent court cases, such as the prosecutions for tax evasion in the fruit picking and contracting industry, has highlighted our message to the community that we will take action against those who do not comply. It confirms our attitude to consistency and equity, giving honest taxpayers in the industry assurance that there is a "level playing field" and that their businesses will not be disadvantaged by operators who do not pay tax.
Receiving family assistance entitlements
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An important component of our commitment to consistency and equity is everyone receiving their entitlements. Because people receiving family assistance can easily receive an over or underpayment when their circumstances change, we take proactive steps (such as checking actual income against predicted earnings) to avoid debt being incurred.
The percentage of people who have been overpaid remained the same this year (at 28%). However, preliminary results show that the average amount of overpayment has decreased because of the efforts we made to contact people when actual income has varied from that predicted. Family assistance debt has also declined by $22.6 million in 2003-04 and there is a continuing decrease in the average value of family assistance debt.
Changes to debt and hardship rules
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In December 2002 new debt and hardship rules were introduced to make the management of debt situations more flexible and ensure that if instalment arrangements were made they could be sustained by the taxpayer.
The value of instalment arrangements has risen again in the current year (2002-03: $450 million; 2003-04: $570 million) and the overall response to these changes continues to be positive. Our improved debt performance is also reflected in our customers' satisfaction with our service. The nature of overdue debt collection means it is hard to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. This year, 66% of overdue debt customers surveyed were satisfied with our overdue debt collection activities, compared to 57% in 2002-03.
Complaints Management Service
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Our complaints process has been in place for three years. It is now widely publicised in our publications and on our website. People have also started to use our online option to register their complaint with us. A complaint can be made directly to our complaints service, or it can originate in one of our service or call centres.
In 2003-04 we simplified the process used to record complaints. We also carried out further training with our staff to make sure that we fully recorded complaints into the customer feedback system. As a result, far more complaints are being entered into the system than in the past. In 2003-04 there were 4,915 complaints, compared to 3,524 the previous year. About half of them are about Inland Revenue procedures, as shown in the graph below.
We have recently started to record whether the complaint was upheld (as determined by Inland Revenue). The results are shown in the graph below and are based
on data from October 2003 to June 2004.
We have also begun to measure the satisfaction level with the quality of the complaints process using a sample of those who have contacted the service. Over 80% of customers continue to feel that their complaint has been resolved - irrespective of whether the outcome was in their favour or not. Additionally, 80% felt that Inland Revenue delivered good service in dealing with their complaint.
Complaints also help us to identify any inconsistencies in our procedures and ways in which we can improve the presentation of information. For example, changes have been made to several Inland Revenue forms to make it clear that if a taxpayer has credits for one revenue type, they can be offset against debits in others.
Approaches to the Minister, Commissioner and other authorities
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Our Ministerial Services team investigates and resolves matters that are raised with Ministers, the Commissioner, the Ombudsmen, the Privacy Commissioner and the Human Rights Commissioner. In all, the team dealt with 2,222 letters and calls, slightly more than last year.
The approaches to Ministers and the Commissioner more commonly relate to current or proposed legislation, service provided by Inland Revenue staff, and requests for either the Minister or the Commissioner to intervene in decisions made by Inland Revenue on individual tax obligations.
Complaints made to the Ombudsmen, the Privacy Commissioner or the Human Rights Commissioner about Inland Revenue are fully investigated. The findings are reported back to the agency investigating the complaint.
There were 102 27 new Ombudsmen cases received during the year (and 10 on hand from last year). Of the cases actioned during the year:
- 65 were resolved informally
- 11 were sustained
- 23 were not sustained
- two were partly sustained.
There are 11 cases still under action.
27 The number of cases received is at similar levels to previous years although previously we have not reported informal cases.
There were eight new privacy cases received (and five on hand from last year). Of the cases completed:
- four cases were resolved and the complaint not sustained
- one case sustained
There are eight cases still under action.
Date published: 16 Nov 2004
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