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Statement of Intent - 2004 - Part 1

Strengthening our customer focus - pages 27-28

Family assistance

Family assistance is the main means by which the government assists with the costs of raising children and increases the disposable incomes of low- and middle-income families. We are working in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development on the development and implementation of the family assistance component of the Government's Working for Families package of reforms, that will be implemented progressively over the next three years.

The goal of Working for Families is to provide adequate social assistance to those who are not able to work, and to actively support working-age people to take up and stay in employment, by ensuring that they are better off being in work.

We are primarily responsible for delivering family assistance to working families, whereas the Ministry of Social Development is responsible for the delivery of family assistance to those needing a benefit and for a range of other supplementary assistance to all eligible families.

To enhance the implementation of the Working for Families budget initiatives, we are establishing the new position of National Manager, Social Assistance Programme. This position will provide focused management attention to the progressive enhancement of our existing systems and delivery platforms to ensure that we provide a seamless service between ourselves and the Ministry of Social Development for customers moving between work and the benefit system. We will also look to support our customers to increase their uptake of the supplementary social benefits available to working families delivered by the Ministry of Social Development. These benefits include childcare and accommodation assistance.

Communicating information about the family assistance system is an important role for us. We are developing a comprehensive joint communications strategy with the Ministry of Social Development to inform eligible recipients of the changes to family assistance available from both agencies. This approach will encourage eligible recipients to apply for family assistance and supplementary social benefits, and make it easier for them to access the full range of financial assistance to which they are entitled.

Tax professionals

Tax professionals play an important role in making sure the tax system works effectively by helping taxpayers to understand and meet their tax obligations. Our tax system will work to the community's best advantage when all parties work together. We can help achieve this by developing quality relationships with both tax professionals and taxpayers. Quality relationships will help us to better understand how we can ensure taxpayer compliance. We will then be able to design products and services tailored to their needs.

We already have a longstanding, valuable relationship with the tax profession through the Institute of Chartered Accountants. With them, we discuss issues of mutual interest and take part in their presentations to members around the country. This allows us to pass on useful information to members, and to listen to what is happening within the tax profession.

Working closely together contributes to the development of good tax policy advice through the Generic Tax Policy Process, and robust administrative systems that reflect an understanding of how the industry operates, its concerns and the requirement to collect tax. Joint initiatives such as developing best practice guides will continue to strengthen this valuable partnership.

In an ever-changing environment we are starting to see a fundamental change in the relationship between taxpayers, their tax professional and Inland Revenue. Due in part to the advances in technology and our commitment to ensure compliance, it is vital that Inland Revenue and tax professionals work even more closely together to ensure the integrity of the tax system.

Currently, we are developing a tax agents' strategy to take us into the future. This strategy will provide an indication of the type of relationship we desire with tax agents over the next five years, and the role they will play in administering the tax system. It will also show how this relationship can be enhanced to the benefit of tax agents, their clients, and ourselves.

 

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Other pages in: Statement of Intent - 2004 - Part 1
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Date published: 16 Nov 2004

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