The New Zealand and Hong Kong Governments have announced that they intend to soon initiate a round of negotiations concerning the establishment of a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between the nations.

On March 29th Peter Dunne, New Zealand Revenue Minister, announced that the New Zealand Government and the Hong Kong Government expect to start negotiations on a DTA in October. The agreement aims to eliminate instances of double taxation on incomes earned by individuals and businesses entities while operating in the corresponding nation. The DTA will also feature measures to increase taxation transparency between the two nations, and comply with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) international standards on tax information exchange.

Peter Dunne commented on the upcoming negotiation, saying, “I welcome Hong Kong’s change of stance on information exchange matters, which has made the double tax agreement negotiations possible.” Hong Kong has recently signed three similar bi-lateral agreements with Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Brunei, with several more negotiations underway.

The DTA announcement was accompanied by the signing of a Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) agreement between Hong Kong and New Zealand. According to Peter Dunne, Hong Kong is currently New Zealand’s ninth biggest export recipient, and provides significant foreign investment into the country.

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