Statement of Intent 2009-12: Part one - Introduction

Commissioner's introduction

Inland Revenue's primary outcome is to improve the economic and social wellbeing of New Zealanders. This outcome is supported by two intermediate outcomes focused on collecting government revenue and disbursing social policy-based payments. Our success in delivering these results relies on maintaining the integrity of the tax system, community confidence in our administration, and increasing the level of our customers' voluntary compliance.

Key factors and trends affecting Inland Revenue's performance include the worldwide economic recession, increasing demand for our services, growth in the level of overdue debt and the influences of international tax and business trends. Also, our budget will be constrained by the challenging fiscal situation the government faces.

We recognise the increased importance of delivering the government's revenue in tough economic times, but also that, as a large department, we must play our part in delivering better value for money.

Managing through the economic recession

Inland Revenue is keenly aware of the risks that many businesses face as a result of the economic recession, especially the potential to go into debt. We try to assist customers experiencing financial difficulties, and are actively advising people to contact us when it becomes obvious that they are not able to make payments on time. When this occurs, we have more flexibility to alleviate some of the financial pressures. That said, difficult times can lead to higher non-compliance and we will be monitoring customer behaviour and adapting our approach to respond to the changing environment.

Delivering value for money services

As part of the Government's line-by-line budget review, we identified substantial savings for the 2009-10 year. We will continue to reprioritise and seek further savings, while maintaining strong performance. We see potential to deliver better value for money by providing more electronic services, which are easy to use and are not costly for customers, allowing them to self-manage more of their affairs. This is also intended to reduce the need for customers to contact us. There are also opportunities to work more closely with our partners and stakeholders to deliver better results.

Government's tax policy work programme

The focus of the Government's tax policy work programme for 2009-10 is on better positioning New Zealand in the world economy, while maintaining tax revenue flows in a time of worldwide economic recession.

Of special interest to us this year is Australia's review of its tax system. The review is expected to report in late 2009, and it will be important for us to give careful consideration to its recommendations and the possible impacts on New Zealand .

Transforming how Inland Revenue does its work

Inland Revenue is developing a programme of work to fundamentally change the way we do our business (Transform IR). This will focus on simplifying processes, updating information technology infrastructure and improving services.

Business practices are changing quickly. Over the past few years, Inland Revenue has been busy adding new programmes, such as KiwiSaver, and building the capability to administer these. Now, we must identify policy, process and programme improvements that will help us to deliver better effectiveness and efficiency. Some of the opportunities include:

• using speech recognition technology to speed up customer service in our call centres
• reducing mail contacts by simplifying correspondence, and by providing better information services over the internet
• working with employers, payroll providers and tax agents to significantly reduce errors, thereby improving productivity and customer service
• increasing the range of transactions available using electronic services.

Managing compliance

This year, for the first time, we will publish our Compliance Management Programme externally. This publication will identify our assessment of priority compliance risks for 2009-10 . It will also indicate that we will manage these risks using a range of interventions, including education, assistance and enforcement activities. It is important for us to take a balanced approach to managing compliance risks, to increase voluntary compliance and maintain community confidence in our ability to manage non-compliance.

Progress since the 2008-11 Statement of Intent

During 2007-08, the department made significant progress in a number of key areas, including the:

• ongoing delivery of the tax policy work programme
• identification and management of our strategic and operational risks (see page 14)
• measurement of our outcomes (see page 19)
• further development of our compliance management approach (see page 22)
• improvement in the level of our people's engagement (see page 31).

Conclusion

The next few years are going to be challenging, as we continue to deliver essential government services, with an emphasis on delivering value for money. We are also beginning a major change programme, so Inland Revenue can serve New Zealanders well for many years to come.

In recent years, Inland Revenue's people have demonstrated their ability to take on important new programmes, and meet government expectations. I am enthusiastic about the programme of work ahead of us, and confident in the ability of our people to, once again, deliver great results.

 

Robert Russell
Chief Executive and Commissioner of Inland Revenue

 

 

 

Date published: 25 Jun 2009

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