[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
29 July 2022
N Ryan
[FYI request #19807 email]
Dear N Ryan
Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), received
on 2 July 2022. You requested the following:
Copies of all of the compulsory survey documents issued to participants in the High-
Wealth Individuals Research Project.
This request seeks that you include PDF copies of the actual survey forms, and all
related documents that were sent to participants.
Information being released Please find enclosed the following documents:
Item Date
Document description
Decision
1.
21 February
Entity collection disclosure
Released in full
2022
statement
2.
9 June 2022
Financial collection disclosure
Released in full
statement
3.
20 October
Template letter to high-wealth
Released with
2021
individuals with authorisation form redactions under
and information sheet
section 9(2)(a)
Authorisation form
withheld in full under
section 18(c)(i)
4.
2 November
Template letter to high-wealth
Released with
2021
individuals for family details
redactions under
collection
sections 9(2)(a) and
18(c)(i)
5.
21 February
Template letter to high-wealth
2022
individuals for entity collection
6.
9 June 2022
Template letter to high-wealth
individuals for financial information
Where information in the documents is withheld, the relevant withholding ground of the
OIA is specified in the document. Some information has been withheld under the following
OIA grounds:
•
Section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons
•
Section 18(c)(i) – the making available of the requested information would be
contrary to section 18(3) of the Tax Administration Act 1994 (TAA).
No public interest in releasing the withheld information has been identified that would be
sufficient to outweigh the reasons for withholding.
www.ird.govt.nz
Ref: 23OIA1009
Page 1 of 2
[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Please note the security classifications on the documents have been redacted to allow for
release.
Information publicly available
The following information you requested is publicly available on Inland Revenue’s website
under the
High-wealth individuals research project section
(www.ird.govt.nz/about-
us/who-we-are/organisation-structure/significant-enterprises/hwi-research-
project/questionnaire-guides-hwi):
Item
Date
Document description
7.
June 2022
Financial questionnaire guide
8.
May 2022
Information sheets
9.
February 2022
Entity questionnaire guide
10.
November 2021
Family details collection questionnaire guide
The
Section 17GB Tax Administration Act 1994 enclosed in each letter can be found here:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0166/latest/LMS437229.html. Your request for the documents listed in the above table is therefore refused under section
18(d) of the OIA, as the information is publicly available.
Some information has been removed from documents listed above, on the OIA grounds
described in the documents.
Right of Review
If you disagree with my decisions on your OIA request, you can ask an Inland Revenue
review officer to review my decisions. To ask for an internal review, please email the
Commissioner of Inland Revenue at:
[email address]. Alternatively, under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to investigate and review my decisions. You can contact the office of the Ombudsman by
email at:
[email address]. If you choose to have an internal review, you can still ask the Ombudsman for a review.
Thank you for your request.
Yours sincerely
Felicity Barker
Project Director, Inland Revenue
Page 2 of 2
Ref: 23OIA1009
[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Document 3
Policy and Regulatory Stewardship
Kaupapa me te Tiaki i ngā Ture
PO Box 2198
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
20 October 2021
«legal_name»
«courier_addr1»
«courier_addr2»
«courier_addr3»
«courier_addr4»
«courier_addr5»
Tēnā koe,
High-Wealth Individuals Research Project
You have been selected to take part in Inland Revenue’s high-wealth individuals research
project.
This is a statistical research project that aims to fill a gap in our knowledge of effective tax
rates relative to economic measures of income, particularly for high-wealth individuals.
In the next three weeks, we will contact you again to ask for details about your household.
All the information you provide will be kept confidential, and will not be used to reassess your
tax liability.
Why are we carrying out this project?
The project seeks to improve the evidence base for making assessments of the fairness of the
tax system. The project is not making any policy recommendations, but the analysis will
inform future tax policy advice.
The research will be published in a report to be made public in mid-2023. This report will not
identify any individual, their financial information or their specific effective tax rate.
How will you be involved in the project?
We have selected about 400 high-wealth individuals to take part in this research project.
The project will use household income as the unit of analysis, so we will ask you for
information about your partner (if you have one) and any dependent children.
You and your partner will separately be asked to provide information to Inland Revenue. If you
have any dependent children, you will be asked to provide information about them.
What information will you and your partner be required to provide?
In November 2021, we will ask you to provide details of your partner and any dependent
children.
In January 2022, we will ask you for information about the various entities and business
undertakings (that is, companies and trusts) you, or your dependent children, have an interest
in. We will ask your partner for the same information in relation to the entities and business
undertakings they have an interest in.
[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
7. Please provide the following information about your partner. These details will be used to contact
your partner to ask them for information needed for the high-wealth individuals research project. If
there is insufficient information to contact your partner, we will need to contact you again about
this.
a. Partner's first name
b.
(s)
c.
d. Please provide any other names that your partner has been known by (e.g. maiden name)
e. Partner's date of birth
f. Partner's IRD number
g. Partner's other Tax Identification Number(s) and country of issue
h. Partner's postal address
i. Partner's phone number
j. Partner's email address
8. Do you currently have any dependent children?
A dependent child is a child of you and/or your partner from a biological, adoptive or
fostering relationship who is:
Aged 17 or under, and
Not in full time paid employment (regularly working 30 hours or more per week),
and
Not married, in a civil union or in a de facto relationship themselves, and
You regard as being part of your household due to them, for example:
often living at a shared address with you, or
sharing household activities with you, or
being viewed as your dependent child by others.
9. How many dependent children do you have?
10. Please provide the following information in respect of any dependent child (starting with the eldest)
who, to the best of your knowledge, currently has net assets in their own name in excess of
$1,000,000 or in the 2021 income year had taxable income in excess of $1,000,000. You are not
required to undertake a valuation exercise to answer this question.
a. Child's first name
b. Child's middle name(s)
c. Child's surname
d. Child's date of birth
e. Child's IRD number
Document 5
Policy and Regulatory Stewardship
Kaupapa me te Tiaki i ngā Ture
55 Featherston Street
PO Box 2198
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
21 February 2022
«FirstName» «Middlename» «LastName»
«courier_addr1»
«cou
rier_addr2»
«courier_addr3»
«courier_addr4»
By courier
Tēnā koe,
High-Wealth Individuals Research Project – request for information about entities
You will be aware from our previous correspondence that you have been selected to take part
in Inland Revenue’s high-wealth individuals research project.
Today we issued a notice pursuant to section 17GB of the Tax Administration Act 1994
requiring you to complete a questionnaire about entities (that is, companies and trusts etc.)
that you have an interest in. In accordance with the legislation, we emailed this notice to the
person you advised is your authorised agent or nominated representative for this project.
You may have already heard from your authorised agent or nominated representative, but if
you have not, please contact them. Your response is due by
5pm on 4 April 2022.
If you require a copy of the Entity Questionnaire – comprising an excel workbook called
‘Disclosure Statements’ and a guide explaining how to complete the Disclosure Statements,
please contact us at [email address] or the above PO Box (attention: Felicity Barker) or
request a copy from your authorised agent or nominated representative. The Entity
Questionnaire and guide can also be accessed through the URL below:
s18(c)(i)
Important: Please ensure you keep this invitation or a note of the URL above. You will need it
later to upload your Disclosure Statements.
Your obligations
You are legally required to provide this information. You are not required to provide
information that would be covered by legal professional privilege or where there is a right of
non-disclosure for documents containing tax advice. For further information, please refer to
OS
13/02 – section 17 notices and
OS 18/02 – non-disclosure right for tax advice documents.
You may ask someone else to respond on your behalf, for example, your agent, but it is
important to understand that the legal obligation to comply remains your own. A copy of
section 17GB is enclosed with this letter. The consequences for non-compliance with section
17GB are the same as for the Commissioner’s other information-gathering powers. For further
information, please refer to
OS 13/02 – section 17 notices.
All information collected as part of this project will be kept confidential and secure. You can
find more information on the protection of your information in the Privacy Impact Assessment
published on the Inland Revenue website:
www.ird.govt.nz/hwi-research-project
Document 6
Policy and Regulatory Stewardship
Kaupapa me te Tiaki i ngā Ture
PO Box 2198
20 Aitken Street
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
9 June 2022
«FirstName» «Middlename» «LastName»
«courier_addr1»
«courier_addr2»
«courier_addr3»
«courier_addr4»
By courier
Tēnā koe,
High-wealth individuals research project –financial information required
You will be aware from our previous correspondence that you have been selected to take part
in Inland Revenue’s high-wealth individuals research project.
Today we issued a notice pursuant to section 17GB(1) of the Tax Administration Act 1994
requiring you to provide certain financial information about both yourself and some of the
entities that you have an interest in. In accordance with the legislation, we emailed this notice
to the person you advised is your authorised agent or nominated representative for this
project.
You may have already heard from your authorised agent or nominated representative, but if
you have not, please contact them. Your response is due by
5pm on 24 August 2022.
If you require a copy of the Financial Questionnaire – comprising an excel workbook called
‘Financial Disclosure Statements’ and a guide explaining how to complete the Financial
Disclosure Statements, please contact us at [email address] or the above PO Box
(attention: Felicity Barker) or request a copy from your authorised agent or nominated
representative. The Financial Disclosure Statements and guide can also be accessed through
the URL below:
s18(c)(i)
Important: Please ensure you keep this letter or a note of the URL above. You will need it
later to upload your Financial Disclosure Statements.
Your obligations
You are legally required to provide this information as we are requesting it under one of
the Commissioner’s information-gathering powers – section 17GB(1) of the Tax
Administration Act 1994. A person who is notified by the Commissioner that they are
required to provide information under section 17GB(1) must provide any information that
the Commissioner considers relevant for a purpose relating to the development of policy
for the improvement or reform of the tax system. The wording of section 17GB is enclosed
with this letter.
You are not required to provide information that would be covered by legal professional
privilege or where there is a right of non-disclosure for documents containing tax advice.
For further information, please refer to
OS 13/02 – section 17 notices and
OS 18/02 –
non-disclosure right for tax advice documents. You may ask someone else to respond on your behalf, for example, your agent, but it is
important to understand that the legal obligation to comply remains your own. The
consequences for non-compliance with section 17GB are the same as for the
Commissioner’s other information-gathering powers. For further information, please refer
to
OS 13/02 – section 17 notices. How to respond
You and your partner (if you have one) have both been asked to provide information to
Inland Revenue on your respective financial affairs. This information has been requested
from each of you separately to protect your privacy. However, as explained in the guide,
you may choose to provide a single joint response or separate responses.
Instructions on how to submit the Financial Disclosure Statements via the URL are in the
guide. We prefer that you submit the Financial Disclosure Statements in this way as it is
the mo
st secure.
If you are unable to submit the Financial Disclosure Statements by uploading them via the
URL, you may submit them by email to s18(c)(i)
. If you reply by
emai
l, we request that you use encryption to protect this information.
Your response is due by
5pm on 24 August 2022.
When information about in-scope disclosed trusts is unavailable
If you are unable to answer any of the questions about in-scope disclosed trusts because
the information is not within your knowledge, possession or control, then by
4 July 2022 you are required to tell us the name and contact details of the person(s) with access to
this information.
To provide these contact details, please download the form called ‘Contact Details for In-
Scope Disclosed Trusts’ (which can be accessed by clicking on the URL above) and email
the completed form to [email address]. Further instructions are given in the guide.
If we do not hear from you by
5pm on 4 July 2022 then we will assume that you will be
able to provide the required information by
24 August 2022.
Further information All information collected as part of this project will be kept confidential and secure. The
Financial Disclosure Statements will be classified as ‘In Confidence – Policy Research Only’
when they are populated. You can find more information on the protection of your
information in the Privacy Impact Assessment published on the Inland Revenue website:
www.ird.govt.nz/hwi-research-project
You have rights of access and correction in accordance with Inland Revenue’s privacy policy.
Enclosed with this letter is an updated Information Sheet on the project. Please note that we
were unable to provide the updated Information Sheet to you prior to sending this letter as we
do not hold a current email address for you. Please provide us with your preferred email
address by emailing [email address].
If you have any questions about completing the Financial Disclosure Statements or require
assistance in completing them, please email s18(c)(i)
Please indicate if
you would like a call back.
If you have any questions about the project generally or require assistance in uploading the
Document Outline
