“Self-assessment” is a system for collecting income tax where taxpayers calculate their income tax independently. The calculation is not initially checked but may be subsequently audited. The adoption of a “self-assessment” method for collecting income tax is primarily for reasons of...

In the latter half of the 1980s the tax climate in Australia and New Zealand changed markedly. While throughout the world there were major tax reforms, the changes in Australasia were more fundamental, and both structural and radical. Major changes that were adopted in one or both of the two...

A note on Woodley v. Rod Elmiger Ltd. (1983) 6 NZTC 61,514 (HC) Wallace J, which involved the imposition of penalties for a knowing failure to pay PAYE. Although the Commissioner can ultimately hold the employee responsible for PAYE, the penalty imposed on the employer in this case reflects the...

CIR v. Banks (1978) 2 NZLR 472 considered the issue of deductibility of home office expenses. Richardson J rejected the Australian approach, which holds that if the initial capital outlay was made for private purposes, the fact that the property is later used for income-producing is immaterial....

Section 75(1) of the Income Tax Act 1976 required that income from a trust be taxed either in the hands of the beneficiary or in the hands of the trustee, but not both. A sub trust is usually used to obtain the tax advantages of having income taxed to the beneficiary under section 75(1), while...

Trusts fit uneasily into any tax system. The beneficiary should be taxed on any trust income received; yet the trustee also receives income that is amenable to taxation. It would not be fair for the income to be taxed to both the beneficiary and the trustee, yet neither should the trustee escape...

Trusts fit uneasily into any tax system. The beneficiary should be taxed on any trust income received; yet the trustee also receives income that is amenable to taxation. It would not be fair for the income to be taxed to both the beneficiary and the trustee, yet neither should the trustee escape...

The paper deals with the taxation of transactions involving the sale of land where the price received includes a non-cash element, most commonly, a mortgage to the vendor. Generally, such transactions are taxable in New Zealand only when the vendor is in the business of selling properties. The...

There is a misconception among New Zealand estate planners that there are tax advantages from constituting a trust with a pro forma settlor. The scheme involves having a third party to settle a trust for a nominal sum, so that the ‘true' settlor can avoid certain tax provisions when property...

The Estate and Gift Duties Amendment Act 1976 reduced the amount of estate duty and introduced a matrimonial home allowance that reduced the estate duty on matrimonial homes left to a surviving spouse. This change created a number of loop-holes and inequalities.As at 2009, the Estate and Gift...