Office of the Chief Tax Counsel (OCTC)

Public Rulings Unit

The aim of the Public Rulings Unit is to provide greater certainty on the application of tax law to:

• allow taxpayers to enter into commercial transactions with confidence, and
• foster taxpayers' compliance with their legal obligations.

The Public Rulings Unit has the primary responsibility for issuing public rulings, which are the Commissioner's formally binding interpretations of the tax laws. The unit also issues interpretation statements and guidelines. Issues may be brought to Public Rulings when there is doubt or different views about how the law should apply to particular arrangements or matters. Public Rulings' decision then becomes the Commissioner's view on that matter.

Public rulings and interpretation statements and guidelines are available to browse and download from the technical tax area.

The Unit communicates its interpretations to both external customers and Inland Revenue staff by:

• publishing public rulings and interpretation statements and guidelines here on the website and in the Tax Information Bulletin
• supplying copies of the above to interested parties on request, mainly by email.

It is important that binding rulings, which bind the Commissioner for the period of their application, are technically correct and in accordance with the tax Acts and relevant case law. Unit staff members who are usually qualified solicitors, must thoroughly research the issues. Draft public rulings go through a consultation process that gives Inland Revenue groups and external interested parties an opportunity to comment.

Public Rulings work programme

Towards the end of each financial year (30 June), Public Rulings prepares a draft programme of priority work for the following year. The criteria for inclusion in the programme are based on such factors as the importance of the issues involved, the level of uncertainty/ambiguity, the number of taxpayers potentially affected, the need to resolve existing issues, and the potential revenue implications. The draft is consulted on with key stakeholders.

This has the advantage of permitting the Public Rulings Unit to plan in advance its work commitments and better ensure that it produces timely and relevant items.

The work programme is updated monthly to advise on progress.

Download the Public Rulings work programme 2011-12 (as at 1 February 2012) ›
(PDF | 36kb | 3 pages)

Public Rulings customer feedback survey 2009

In early 2009, the Public Rulings Unit ran a customer survey to explore ways of improving its public items and its consultation and publication processes.

A short report is available setting out the actions the Unit has been taking based on the comments and suggestions received, together with some brief highlights of the responses. An update is also available on progress the Unit has made so far on the planned improvements as at 31 March 2010. The Unit continues to identify and implement improvements to its public items and processes.

Download the customer survey report ›
(PDF | 105kb | 4 pages)

Download the customer survey progress update ›
(PDF | 47kb | 2 pages)

Public Rulings Unit article

An article about the Public Rulings Unit and the work that it does was first published in Taxation Today (Issue 18, May 2009). It is reproduced here with permission of the publisher.

Download the Public Rulings Unit article ›
(PDF | 198kb | 20 pages)

Guide to binding rulings

Our Guide to binding rulings (IR715) provides comprehensive information on:

• what binding rulings are
• the different types of binding rulings available, for example, private, product, public, and status rulings
• what you need to do to apply for a private, product or status binding ruling. You cannot apply for a public ruling as they are initiated by Inland Revenue.

 

 

Date published: 07 Feb 2012

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