Aotearoa New Zealand's tax and social policy payments system is based on customers voluntarily making the payments they should. Our role is to collect the most net revenue we can with our resources, within this framework of voluntary compliance. People's trust in Inland Revenue is critical. Ultimately, everything we've done is to maintain the integrity of the tax and social policy system and people's belief in paying tax.
Our customer research this year has showed very mixed results in terms of trust in Inland Revenue. We saw significant increases in trust from SMEs, but declining trust among micro businesses and individuals.
Factors that influence how New Zealander are feeling include concerns about inflation, the cost of living and global issues such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and the pandemic.
We watch these external trends closely because they play a part in people's trust in Inland Revenue. However, we also know trust is significantly driven by customers' direct experiences dealing with us. These experiences give us opportunities to both win and lose customers' trust. It was difficult for customers to get hold of us at times this year as we prioritised providing COVID-19 support. This may have affected some customers' level of trust.
We know our people in customer-facing roles are great at resolving issues for customers. Building on that, we keep working to make it easier for customers to interact with Inland Revenue and resolve issues. You can read more about this where we look at what's next for Inland Revenue.
Getting the next generation set up right from the start
More than 450,000 of our customers are aged 13 to 19 - over a third are registered for salary and wage income.
In February 2022, Inland Revenue and Te Ara Ahunga Ora the Retirement Commission launched a new learning module to schools. It provides tax information for Year 9 and 10 students, to help them get their tax and payments right from the start and set for the future.
The new module is part of Te whai hua - kia ora! Sorted in Schools, which 76% of secondary schools and kura are taking part in. It will be taught across the New Zealand curriculum and in te reo through Māori medium education. It uses real-life, meaningful examples and has been designed to be accessible and meet the diverse needs of learners.
We’ve often been asked to engage with younger people in schools. We saw this as a great opportunity to create a tailored and structured approach to support students to learn about Te Tari Taake Inland Revenue and how the tax system works.