Indications have arisen that New Zealand’s alcohol excise tax could be raised, among other changes to legislation surrounding the sale of liquor. A document has recently been leaked to the media containing a number of proposed alcohol legislation reforms. Key among the changes is a 50 percent increase in alcohol excise duties. The newest report comes as an extension of discussions conducted in 2009, which recommended the current 50 percent increase, regular reviews of excise taxes, and transferring all revenues collected to ... Read More

The New Zealand Government has announced that it will be cutting its spending by NZD 1.8 billion in the upcoming budget. On March 22nd at a speech given at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Bill English, New Zealand Finance Minister, revealed that a further NZD 1.8 billion worth of public spending will be cut by the Government, in an effort to eradicate “lower quality government spending” and improve the national fiscal situation. The new cuts are slated to be executed in addition to ... Read More

The New Zealand Government has released documents showing that the national budget deficit is narrower than projected, despite tax collection falling below expectations. On April 9th the New Zealand Government released its Financial Statements for the eight months ended February 28th 2010. The new statements show the Government’s operating deficit for the period to be NZD 4.49 billion, 11.2 percent below the 2009 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update. The difference was attributed to lowered Government spending and a once-off payment to the ... Read More

The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department (IRD) will be in the Court of Appeals this week in an effort to overturn a landmark court decision, which found tax evasion allegations against two medical professionals refuted. In a court action that will be closely monitored by both the medical profession and other high-cost professionals the IRD is seeking to claim that two Christchurch based orthopedic surgeons were using company and trust structures to pay themselves less than the typical rate for their profession. The ... Read More