24OIA1802
14 March 2024
John Armstrong
[FYI request #25748 email]
Dear John Armstrong
Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), received on
16 February 2023. You requested:
If we are required to file a tax return at all, it must be published in the Government Gazette.
1)
Could you please supply the volume date and a page number that this public
obligation exists in the public and that the public have been given notice in the
Gazette.
2)
Can you please legally define “person”.
Item 1
A notice
in the
New Zealand Gazette is not required by legislation for obligations to have effect
under tax law.
Successive New Zealand Parliaments have been validly held and have passed valid legislation,
including the various Inland Revenue Acts.
Inland Revenue was originally established through the enactment of the Inland Revenue
Department Act 1952 and is now constituted by section 5 of the Tax Administration Act 1994
(TAA).
The general legislative authority for imposing and collecting taxes lies in the various Inland
Revenue Acts, which are listed in the Schedule to the TAA. More specifically, Part B of the Income
Tax Act 2007 provides for the imposition of tax on income, and Part R provides for payment of
tax by customers on their own behalf and by way of source deductions. Section 8 of the Goods
and Services Tax Act 1985 provides for the charging of GST on goods or services supplied in the
course of carrying on a taxable activity.
As tax obligations are imposed by statute, persons cannot opt out of them, and tax obligations
remain obligations whether people comply with them voluntarily or not.
This position is supported by the Court of Appeal decision in
Shaw v Commissioner of Inland
Revenue [1999] 3 NZLR 154. The appellant in the case argued that particular tax legislation was
invalid. The Court dismissed the appeal.
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24OIA1802
Item 2
The word “person” is defined in section 13 of the Legislation Act 2019 and includes a corporation
sole, a body corporate, and an unincorporated body. The definition of person is an inclusive
definition and includes a natural person as well as all the other entities referred to in the section.
In addition to the natural and everyday usage of the word, there is considerable textual support
in the Income Tax Act 2007 which makes it clear that the word “person” includes a human being.
You can read the Revenue Acts on the New Zealand Legislation website
(legislation.govt.nz).
Publishing of OIA response
We intend to publish our response to your request on Inland Revenue’s website
(www.ird.govt.nz) as this information may be of interest to other members of the public. This
letter, with your personal details removed, will be published in its entirety. Publishing responses
increases the availability of information to the public and is consistent with the OIA's purpose of
enabling more effective participation in the making and administration of laws and policies, and
promoting the accountability of officials.
Thank you for your request.
Yours sincerely
Josh Green
Domain Lead, Governance and Ministerial Services
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