According to figures from Statistics New Zealand has shrunk for the third quarter in a row. The last three quarters go down on record as being the worst since 1989, as they have contracted 0.3%, 0.2% in the March and June quarters, respectively, in a measure of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The September quarter has decreased by 0.4%. According to BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis, this is not the end of the bad news with worse to be expected in 2009. Further, ... Read More

Kevin Wayne Frazer, a Tauranga accountant has received a sentence of ten-month home detention and 250 hours of community service work on charges of Tax evasion. Kevin Wayne Frazer, former director of Total Taxation and Accounting Services pleaded guilty in a Tauranga District Court on the 15th of December, to 68 charges of unpaid income-tax, GST, PAYE, fringe benefit taxes and student loan repayments. According to an IRD statement, income tax to an amount of $46,330, GST of $384,356, PAYE of $105,965, ... Read More

The Human Rights Review Tribunal has ruled that the In-Work Tax Credit does not breach the Bill of Rights or Human Rights Acts. On the 3rd of June, 2008 a trial headed by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) against the Crown sought to find whether the In-Work Tax Credit aspect of the Government’s Working-for-Families package broke human rights. The crux of the argument lay on the fact that to receive the $60 tax credit, a sole parent was required to be in ... Read More

In a speech made by Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee to parliament, the use of tax breaks as incentives has been proposed to increase the use of biofuels in New Zealand. The key concern of the speech was to repeal a Labour government passed law which stated that by the year 2012 2.5% of the petrol and diesel market be sourced from biofuel. Garry Brownlee said that although there were a number of exciting biofuel projects in New Zealand, the amount ... Read More