Statement of Intent - 2004 - Part 1
Enhancing our services - pages 31-32
Managing outstanding returns and debt
Management of overdue debt and returns is an important component of Inland Revenue's approach to compliance. We encourage compliance through collecting overdue payments and by providing proactive support to those taxpayers and other customers wanting to comply and whose financial circumstances make it difficult for them.
We do this in an environment where the community appears to be changing its perception of debt. Surveys conducted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand have demonstrated trends towards rising personal indebtedness. In 1991 total household debt and servicing was 61% of disposable income, but has since climbed steadily to 123% in December 2002.
Overdue debt* levels to Inland Revenue have also been increasing due to:
- growth in revenue from a buoyant economy
- an increase in debt from audit activity which has had a greater emphasis on tax avoidance and evasion schemes.
* Overdue debt includes tax, student loan and family assistance debt. It excludes child support.
Figure 16 shows this growth.
Figure 16 -
Debt levels
| 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total outstanding debt ($ million) | 1,506 | 1,695 | 1,781 | 1.893 | 2.324 |
| Total collectable debt ($ million) | 802 | 887 | 1,108 | 1,129 | 1,360 |
| Total collectable debt as a %of taxation revenue | 3.0% | 3.2% | 3.7% | 3.8% | 3.9% |
This environment makes our performance targets for debt particularly challenging.
We are addressing debt at two levels:
- Developing a long-term approach that focuses on providing systematic solutions to improve on time filing and payment compliance. This will include a greater targeting of our debt activities over time and improved training and development of our people.
- Providing an increased focus on the more complex areas of debt collection, including greater proactive debt collection as part of our tax evasion activity. Following on from our Industry Partnership work, we also recognise the importance of addressing small debt early.
Immediate activities include:
- employing a more targeted approach to debt compliance
- reducing the occurrence of debt from taxpayers who use tax agents, through our Agent Account Managers working with tax agents
- further developing our people's skills to effectively case manage the growing complexity of business arrangements used to avoid paying tax
- further promoting online services as a way of reducing the level of debt by making it easier for taxpayers to meet their obligations, make payments and reduce compliance costs.
Improving compliance-verifying that the right amount of tax has been paid
We verify that the right amount of tax has been paid by auditing selected taxpayers. The expected outcome of this activity is maintaining and improving compliance among all taxpayers, not just the detection of tax which ought to have been paid.
Our audit strategy was seen as a priority in the performance review undertaken by the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General*. Based on our compliance model, the strategy aims to improve taxpayer compliance over time.
* Inland Revenue Department: Performance of Taxpayer Audit, Report of the Controller and Auditor-General, July 2003.
The primary focus of our audit activity is on those taxpayers who have decided not to comply, or do not want to comply, while still maintaining a visible presence amongst low compliance risk taxpayers. The outcome we are seeking from placing more audit focus on the most non-compliant taxpayers is more taxpayers meeting their obligations voluntarily.
Over the last decade, increasing emphasis has been placed on the investigation of the areas seen as posing the greatest risk to revenue, particularly:
- large enterprises-mainly companies with a turnover exceeding $100 million-and taxpayers covered by special arrangements
- aggressive tax issues (schemes designed to avoid tax), tax evasion (cash transactions kept outside recording systems-the cash economy-employers who deliberately do not keep accurate PAYE records, and fraud that is based on attempting to claim false GST credits)
- business activities that require audits with a medium timeframe (mainly checking GST and PAYE).
Other pages in: Statement of Intent - 2004 - Part 1
- What we strive to achieve - pages 10-11
- What we strive to achieve - pages 12-13
- What we strive to achieve - pages 13-14
- Choosing the right activities to achieve our outcomes - page 15
- Choosing the right activities to achieve our outcomes - pages 15-16
- Choosing the right activities to achieve our outcomes - page 17
- Choosing the right activities to achieve our outcomes -page 18-19
- Policy and legislation - page 19
- Inland Revenue's Charter - page 20
- Strengthening our customer focus - page 21
- Strengthening our customer focus - page 22
- Strengthening our customer focus - page 23
- Strengthening our customer focus - pages 24-26
- Strengthening our customer focus - pages 26-27
- Strengthening our customer focus - pages 27-28
- Enhancing our services - pages 29-30
- Enhancing our services - pages 32-33
- Ensuring we have the right capability - pages 34-35
- Ensuring we have the right capability - pages 36-37
- Ensuring we have the right capability - pages 37-39
- Ensuring we have the right capability - pages 39-40
- Mitigating risk by strengthening governance - pages 41-42
- Measuring and evaluating our performance - pages 43-44
Date published: 16 Nov 2004
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