Philip John Duncan, a Christchurch based property developer, has been found guilty of GST fraud, and received sentencing. Upon admitting to eight charges of tax evasion, totaling NZ$663,952, Philip John Duncan has been sentenced to two and a half years of jail time. The charges against the Christchurch based property developer revolved around intricate company, trust and associated company structures, and a series of canceled transactions and claims on purchases that never occurred. Cases of tax evasion began to occur in 1999 ... Read More

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has won its tax evasion case against Westpac Banking Corp, resulting in a NZ$918 million fine for the bank. The New Zealand High Court made a decision to dismiss Westpac’s challenge to IRD’s decision that the bank owes $586 million in taxes for a series of structured finance transactions. The IRD claimed that between 1998 and 2002 the bank undertook a series of offshore transactions whose sole purpose was tax evasion. The court proceedings centered around nine such ... Read More

Prompted by an influx of donations for the Samoa tsunami relief, the IRD has reiterated their policy regarding donations. Robert Russell, Commissioner of Inland Revenue, has made statements reminding those making donations to tsunami stricken Samoa that they could be eligible for a tax refund. Robert Russell believes that many of those who are making donations are unaware that they are able to claim a refund on their donation. Further, it was emphasized that there is no longer an upper limit on the amount ... Read More