This category is limited to Inland Revenue undertaking investigation, audit and litigation activities.
We protect the integrity of the tax system through early interventions, investigation, audit and litigation activities.
Our 'right from the start' approach helps customers get it right, as we intervene early when they're getting it wrong, and act if they choose to do the wrong thing. This helps ensure that everyone pays what they need to and receives the right entitlements.
This year, we did not undertake as many interventions as usual, as we did not want to put more pressure on customers during a difficult year. We paused some investigation activity and focused on ensuring the integrity of our COVID-19 support products. Consequently, we did not meet all our performance measure targets.
We used tools, data and intelligence to ensure the integrity of COVID-19 products. We ran upfront checks that allowed us to identify when we needed more information from customers. It also enabled us to check their eligibility if they previously made fraudulent or ineligible applications. This year, we paused just over 200,000 applications that we needed to review for eligibility. We also ran post-payment verification checks.
This year. we achieved 1 out of 4 measures for the 'Investigations' category in the 'Services for customers' appropriation. This was less than in 2020-21, where we achieved 3 out of 4 measures.
| 2020-21 actual | Performance measure | 2021-22 target | 2021-22 actual | 2022-23 target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78.8% | Percentage of customers whose compliance behaviour improves after receiving an audit intervention[1] | 85% | 69.6% (not achieved) | 85% |
| Not achieved - This measure looks at the impact audit activity has on customer compliance behaviour across a range of compliance aspects. The percentage of customers whose compliance behaviour improved after receiving an audit intervention decreased from last year. This year, when we reviewed our customers' compliance behaviour, many of them had overdue debt, an indication that the economic environment is affecting customers' ability to meet their payment obligations. |
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| $7.17 | Discrepancy identified for every output dollar spent | $7.00 | $9.88 (achieved) | Measure retired (refer to 'Changes to measures and targets') |
| In recent years, we've expanded our investigation activities to include upfront reviews of the COVID-19 products we administer. Through these reviews, and our more traditional investigations activities (such as voluntary disclosures and audits), we have assessed additional tax or protected the integrity of the tax system to the value of $1.12 billion. This has exceeded expectations. | ||||
| 83.3% | Percentage of litigation judgments found in favour of the Commissioner | 75% | 71.4% (not achieved) | 75% |
| Not achieved - This measure looks at the success of litigation we commence or defend ourselves against. Success means that we protect the integrity of the tax system, the accuracy of our tax assessments and the use of our powers and collection. This is the first year that this measure has not been achieved since the target was lifted from 66% to 75% in 2018–19. The measure relates to court judgments across the breadth of our litigation efforts and requires 100% success on the issues before the court. With only a small number of decisions during the year, any losses or partial wins had a significant impact on the result. |
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| 75% | Percentage of audited customers who are satisfied with their experience[2] | 75% | 69% (not achieved) | 65% (refer to page x) |
| Not achieved - This measure gauges the quality of the audit process across a number of aspects such as; communication, education, how the auditor conducted themselves, timeliness, impacts on the customer, and overall experience. Our audited customers' satisfaction with their experience has decreased since last year. This year, our customers scored us lower on the financial cost to provide Inland Revenue with the information required during the audit and the length of time the audit took. To support customers through the COVID-19 pandemic, we made trade-off decisions to manage the additional demand such as reducing, pausing or stopping some compliance activity including audit actions. This meant the timeliness of some audit activity was affected. |
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Changes to measures and targets
1 Actual performance measured using a sample of audit cases.
2 Actual performance measured using a sample of the customer population from our Audit Survey. The survey asks customers to rate their experiences on a 5-point scale. Results represent customers who gave a score of 3 or more.
All targets are unaudited.
| Actual 2021 ($000) | Actual 2022 ($000) | Unaudited revised budget 2022 ($000) | Unaudited budget 2022 ($000) | Unaudited forecast 2023 ($000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | |||||
| $123,854 | Revenue from the Crown | $119,824 | $119,824 | $114,089 | $125,742 |
| $261 | Other revenue | $431 | $149 | $149 | $149 |
| $124,115 | Total revenue | $120,255 | $119,973 | $114,238 | $125,891 |
| $124,325 | Total expenses | $113,235 | $119,973 | $114,238 | $125,891 |
| $(210) | Net surplus or (deficit) | $7,020 | n/a | n/a | n/a |