| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Adjudication review | Reviews conducted by the Tax Counsel Office as part of IR’s dispute resolution process and independent of our investigation and audit function. An adjudication review is a fresh look at tax disputes in an impartial and independent manner. |
| Advance pricing agreements (APAs) | A co-operative approach to addressing transfer pricing compliance. APAs produce significant time and cost savings, and certainty of outcomes for both tax authorities and multinationals in comparison with adversarial audits. APAs encourage up-front taxpayer compliance and early resolution of potential disputes. |
| Appropriation | A parliamentary authorisation for the Government or an Office of Parliament to incur expenses or capital expenditure. Expenditure can only be incurred under an appropriation or other statutory authority. |
| Approved information-sharing agreement (AISA) | A tool that allows government agencies to provide efficient and effective public services through collaborating and sharing information, without intruding on people’s rights or exposing agencies to risk. Approved information sharing agreements are listed in Schedule 2 of the Privacy Act 2020. Information sharing (privacy.org.nz) |
| Ātea | The enterprise support service platform that supports the day-to-day running of Inland Revenue. |
| Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) | Refers to the global standard for exchanging financial account information. Participating jurisdictions reciprocate with financial account information on New Zealand tax residents. |
| Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) | Refers to aggressive tax planning strategies used by multinationals to ‘shift’ profits from high tax jurisdictions to low/no tax jurisdictions thus eroding the tax base of the high tax jurisdiction. |
| Bright-line rule | A rule that any profit on a residential property will be taxable if it is sold within a set period of time, the bright-line period, unless an exclusion or rollover relief applies. |
| Business transformation | IR’s now completed programme to make tax and payments simpler, open and more certain for customers. |
| Carbon Neutral Government Programme | A programme set up to accelerate the reduction of emissions within the public sector. |
| Child support pass-on | From July 2023, when a liable parent makes a child support payment, it will be passed on to receiving carers on a sole parent rate of benefit, instead of being used to pay the cost of providing the benefit. |
| Compliance intervention | A step or action taken to assist with compliance. This could range from a simple customer contact through to an audit, statutory dispute or prosecution. |
| COVID-19 remissions | The Commissioner of Inland Revenue had the ability to remit use of money interest and/or penalties charged if the taxpayer's ability to pay tax on time was significantly adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. This was enabled under section 183ABAB and section 183ABAC of the Tax Administration Act 1994. |
| Crown | All Ministers and all departments, the State as a whole. |
| Crypto-assets | Also known as cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies, crypto-assets are treated as a form of property for tax purposes. What people make from selling, trading or exchanging crypto-assets is taxable. |
| Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework | Refers to the new global standard for exchanging information on crypto assets which aims to fight evasion of income from crypto assets. It involves crypto-asset service providers collecting details of crypto assets held by non-residents and passing that information to us so that we can pass it on to the relevant jurisdiction. Participating jurisdictions reciprocate with crypto-asset information on New Zealand tax residents. |
| Departmental | Means expenditure incurred by a department or an Office of Parliament. |
| Digital ecosystem | A constantly evolving network of interconnected stakeholders, including government, businesses, people, services, and technologies, that interact digitally to exchange data and services. |
| Digital Services Tax Bill | This Bill was intended to allow the Government to implement, at an appropriate time, a digital services tax to be administered by IR. In May 2025, the Government discharged the Digital Services Tax Bill from the legislative programme. |
| Employee Share Scheme Rules | Employee share schemes can help retain talent by offering shares or options. The structure and tax implications maybe complex as benefits are taxed based on specific timing events using the share's market value. |
| Estimates of Appropriations | Detailed documents in which the Government sets out its spending plans for the coming financial year. The Estimates are presented to Parliament, which then approves them through an Appropriation Bill. (Full name: Estimates of Annual Appropriations for the Government of New Zealand.) |
| FamilyBoost | A subsidised payment to help eligible households pay for the cost of early childhood education. Payments are made quarterly. |
| Final-year Fees Free Scheme | The final-year Fees Free policy. The policy enables eligible learners to claim fees for the final year of the first eligible qualification or programme they complete, rather than the first year (as previously possible). |
| Gateway services | IR's gateway services are machine-to-machine APIs, web services and file transfers that support communication of tax and social policy information between IR, tax software, KiwiSaver schemes and other government departments as required. These highly secure services help ensure large-scale information transfer both automatically and on demand as need requires. Each software provider has, at their discretion, chosen which of the gateway services they will integrate with and offer to their customers. Tax intermediaries can use these gateway service offerings to file their clients' tax returns or use myIR. |
| Global mobility project | This project involves updating international guidance on the taxation issues arising from the greater mobility of employees, such as living in one jurisdiction but working out of another. |
| Government’s Fiscal Strategy | The Government’s plan for managing its finances, which include expenses, revenue and the portfolio of assets and liabilities on the Crown balance sheet. |
| Government’s Going for Growth Plan | This plan sets out the approach the Government is taking to make New Zealand’s economy grow faster, to increase living standards and opportunities for all New Zealanders. For more information visit: Going For Growth (goingforgrowth.govt.nz) |
| Government’s Revenue Strategy | The Government’s Fiscal Strategy Report 2025 reflects that the Government will operate a stable, predictable revenue system. The current main tax bases—personal income tax, company tax and a broad-based GS—will continue to raise the bulk of Crown revenue. |
| Individual Income Tax Assessment (IITA) | Automatically calculated and issued income tax assessments for individual customers when IR has all their income information (income from employment, investments such as bank deposits or savings interest or a benefit under an employment share scheme) for the tax year. |
| Integrity of the tax system | At all times, we need to make sure we are protecting the integrity of the tax system. This has a meaning under section 6(2) of the Tax Administration Act 1994 as follows:
(2) Without limiting its meaning, the integrity of the tax system includes—
|
| International Tax Strategy | IR’s International Tax Strategy outlines our compliance framework and approach in relation to all international customers (individuals and MNEs). There are two main strands to it:
|
| Interpretation Statement | A formal document issued by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue that sets out the Commissioner’s view on how tax law applies to a particular arrangement, transaction, or issue. These statements are part of IR’s broader effort to provide technical guidance and foster voluntary compliance by helping taxpayers understand their obligations under the law. |
| KiwiSaver Scheme Providers | Financial institutions that offer KiwiSaver schemes for members to invest in. They administer scheme enrolments, withdrawals and allocate contributions according to each member’s chosen risk profile. |
| Multi-category appropriation (MCA) | A single appropriation made up of multiple categories (which can be different types of expenditure, including output expenses, other expenses and non-departmental capital expenditure) that all contribute to the same overarching purpose. Multi-category appropriations allow greater flexibility. |
| Multi-factor authentication (MFA) | Also known as 2-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-step authentication, this is a security measure that requires users to provide 2 or more verification factors to gain access to an account or system. It adds an extra layer of security beyond just a password, making it much harder for unauthorised individuals to access accounts, even if they have stolen a password. |
| myIR Navigation Assistant | A guidance tool which has been added to myIR. It improves the customer experience at first point of contact and provides direct links to common self-service tasks, such as updating an address. |
| Non-departmental | Revenue received and expenditure incurred on behalf of the Crown. |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) | Provides a forum in which the governments of 38 member countries can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. Promotes policies that will improve the economic and social wellbeing of people around the world. See: OECD (oecd.org) |
| OECD’s Two Pillar solution | A proposal to reform international tax rules, addressing tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy and mobile income. It involves two main pillars: Pillar One, which focuses on reallocating some profits of the largest multinational enterprises to market jurisdictions, and Pillar Two, which establishes a global minimum effective tax rate for multinational enterprises. |
| Online casino gambling | A gaming duty on online casino gambling. This applies from 1 July 2024 at the rate of 12%. It applies to online gambling provided by offshore operators to New Zealand residents. |
| Operating allowance | Operating allowance or Budget operating allowance refers to the net new operating funding the Government intends to spend on new, discretionary policy initiatives in the Budget. |
| Operating balance | Also referred to as Crown operating balance, this refers to the Government’s headline fiscal measure. It is the difference between total Crown revenue and expenses (excluding gains and losses), and excluding the revenue and expenses of ACC. |
| Oranga | The physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of an individual and their interconnectedness with the natural world around them. IR makes our biggest contribution to oranga through economic activities including collecting and distributing money. |
| Order in Council | A legal instrument used by the New Zealand Government to implement decisions that need legal force. The Executive Council advises the Governor-General to make Orders in Council. Apart from Acts of Parliament, Orders in Council are the main method by which the government implements decisions that need legal force. |
| Public Finance Act | The purpose of the Public Finance Act is to consolidate and amend the law governing the use of public financial resources. |
| Research & Development Tax Incentive | A tax credit intended to incentivise businesses and individuals who perform research and development activities. |
| Rulings | Rulings are the Commissioner’s formally binding interpretations of the tax law. There are 2 main types of rulings—public rulings and taxpayer rulings (which include private rulings, product rulings, short-process rulings and status rulings). |
| Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme | A loan available to eligible organisations and small to medium-sized businesses, including sole traders and the self-employed, if they had been adversely affected by COVID-19. |
| START | An acronym for Simplified Tax and Revenue Technology—our taxation and revenue system. |
| Straight-through processing | Automated, end-to-end processing of transactions with minimal or no manual intervention. |
| Tax Administration Act 1994 | A foundational statute that governs the administration of New Zealand’s tax system. It sets out the roles and responsibilities of IR, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue and taxpayers. |
| Tax and Social Policy Work Programme | A published document that sets out the Government’s policy focus for a relevant period. The work programme follows the strategic direction set out in the Government's revenue strategy. |
| Te Arawhiti Māori Crown Relations Capability Framework | The Māori Crown relations (MCR) capability framework was developed to provide a more coordinated approach to capability building across the public service. Whāinga Amorangi plans developed by agencies are based on the competency areas set out in the MCR framework. The MCR framework is split into three parts: the two capability components and the survey. |
| Thin capitalisation rules | Thin capitalisation rules limit tax deductions for interest when foreign-owned companies use excessive amounts of debt. |
| Transnational, serious and organised crime | Transnational or domestic serious crime planned, coordinated and conducted by a group or network for the purpose of gaining profit, power or influence. |
| Voluntary compliance | The New Zealand tax system is based on voluntary compliance, which relies on taxpayers meeting their obligations under the tax laws, for example, filing tax returns and returning all income. |
| Voluntary disclosure | A disclosure that IR customers can make to tell us what is wrong with a tax return before we find out in some other way. Any individual, business, trust or employer can make a voluntary disclosure. |
| Working for Families Tax Credits | Payments for families with dependent children aged 18 and under. The payments are to help parents raise families. The entitlements are based on people’s yearly family income and family circumstances. There is more about the 4 types of tax credits at All about Working for Families |
Last updated:
25 Nov 2025