Customer opportunity

We define customer opportunity as customer ease and satisfaction when interacting with us to meet their obligations or access their entitlements.

Customer satisfaction and perceptions of effort

Trend indicator: improved

We use 2 questions in our Customer Experience and Perceptions Survey to measure customers’ perceptions of effort and satisfaction. The survey asks customers to rate their responses on a 7-point scale. Results reflect scores of 5 or more, where 1 means 'strongly disagree' and 7 means 'strongly agree'.

This year’s survey results showed small increases in how easy it was for customers to deal with us and their satisfaction when interacting with us. Prompt and easy access combined with high-quality service continue to drive satisfaction and ease. We answered a higher percentage of calls received in 2024 and 66% of customers told us their issue was resolved in one contact.

Returns filed digitally

Trend indicator: stable

Most customers use digital channels, particularly when filing their tax returns. This year 99.2% of returns were filed digitally (income tax, GST and employment information returns).

Customer interactions across assisted and unassisted channels

Trend indicator: stable

Digital services enable customers to do as much for themselves as possible in a way and at a time that suits them. Millions of straightforward transactions happen with no intervention by us, providing customers with certainty sooner.

Over the last 5 years, digital interactions have increased from 98 million in 2020 to 113 million in 2024, mostly through increased use of our website and myIR:  

• myIR sessions increased from 53 million in 2020 to 65 million in 2024. 
• Website sessions increased from 37 million in 2019 to 39 million in 2024.
• Use of gateway services by businesses to file returns from their own systems increased from 6 million returns filed in 2020 to 8 million in 2024. 

The increases in website and myIR website interactions in 2022 and 2023 is likely due increased activity around COVID-19 support payments and cost of living payments.

Donation tax credit claim

Trend indicator: improved

Customers can submit their donation receipts in myIR at any time during the year or they can send us paper records. At the end of the tax year, we pay out refunds for approved submissions.

This year 89.2% of donation tax credit claims were submitted digitally.

This year’s result is 3.6 percentage points higher than 2022–23. 30,000 fewer claims were made in 2024, indicating that the challenging economic environment may have played a part in the result.

Note: in error, results reported in the 2023 Annual Report did not include claims submitted using gateway services. These have been included in the 2024 and prior year results shown above, increasing results by 1.9 percentage points for 2021, 8.1 percentage points for 2022 and 4.7 percentage points for 2023.

Instalment arrangements set up through self-service

Trend indicator: improved

IR provides options for customers who get into debt, including paying off what they owe in instalments while they get back on track. Customers can also set up arrangements ahead of the due date. Customers can set up an instalment arrangement themselves in myIR. This year 40.6% of instalment arrangements were set up in myIR.

In 2023–24, 77,000 customers set up an instalment arrangement in myIR. We know customers who set up their own arrangements are more likely to stick to them. Instalment arrangements set up by customers in myIR in 2023–24 totalled over $1.3 billion. More detail on how well customers adhere to arrangements is on the Customer Capability page.

Customer capability

Returns process without the need for interventions (straight through)

Trend indicator: improved

Tax returns processed without the need for system or staff intervention reduce effort for customers and us.

• 88.0% of employment information returns were processed without requiring further intervention 
• 96.9% of GST returns were processed without requiring further intervention 
• 85.2% of income tax returns were processed without requiring further intervention

Note: GST and employer information yearly results reflect returns filed from April to March. Income tax returns reflect the result by tax year, noting that 2024 is not included as not all the due dates have passed.

Medium customer time spent on tax compliance for small-to-medium-sized enterprises

Trend indicator: improved

We are committed to reducing the tax compliance costs to businesses. We survey SMEs to estimate the time they spend on complying with tax requirements and what it costs them. On average, SMEs spend 32 hours a year on tax compliance activities.

In 2024, SMEs told us they spend an average of 32 hours a year on meeting their tax obligations. That’s 4 hours less than in the survey’s baseline year of 2013.The value of the time saved by SMEs since 2017–18 is $650 million. This is time that business owners can more productively spend running and growing their businesses.

The introduction of mandatory payday filing on 1 April 2019 means that businesses spend more time complying with PAYE and KiwiSaver obligations than they did in 2013. They spend less time complying with GST, income tax and fringe benefit (FBT) obligations.

Improvements to myIR to make it more user-friendly, ensuring our systems are compatible with external software and timely responses to myIR messages are making it easier for SMEs to comply with their obligations. Approximately 20% of SMEs reported that IR had made tax compliance easier in the last 12 months.

In 2024, more SME business owners agreed (63%) than disagreed (14%) that the time their business spends on tax matters was acceptable. The percentage agreeing that the time they spend on tax is acceptable has increased steadily from 54% in 2016, the first year this question was asked. 

Most SMEs (87%) reported low or no stress when dealing with their tax obligations in the 12-month period prior to the survey.

Note: The 2021 result has been updated to reflect corrections for 2 errors; incorrect filing frequencies for some respondents, and the treatment of partial responses where no time estimates were provided these were incorrectly included as 0 rather than being excluded.

Insights into customers’ digital interactions and experiences with IR

Trend indicator: target achieved