Public rulings 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.
About public rulings, interpretation statements and guidelines
Public rulings are the Commissioner's formally binding interpretations of the tax law, interpretation statements and guidelines. Issues may be brought to the Tax Counsel Office (TCO) when there is doubt or different views about how the law should apply to particular arrangements or matters.
Draft public rulings go through a consultation process that gives Inland Revenue groups and external interested parties an opportunity to comment.
Completed public rulings are published and then become the Commissioner's view on that matter.
TCO communicates its interpretations to both external customers and Inland Revenue staff by:
- publishing public rulings and interpretation statements and guidelines on the tax technical website
- supplying copies of the above to interested parties on request.
Binding rulings
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. Staff members, who are usually qualified solicitors, must thoroughly research the issues.
Viewing public rulings, interpretation statements and guidelines
Public rulings, interpretation statements and guidelines are available to browse and download on our tax technical website.
Tax technical (taxtechnical.ird.govt.nz)
Public rulings work programme
Towards the end of each financial year (30 June), a draft programme of priority work is prepared 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 TCO to plan its work commitments in advance and better ensure that it produces timely and relevant items.
Public statements customer feedback surveys
Every 3 years we run an online customer survey, to explore ways of improving our public items and our consultation and publication process.