Hon Peter Dunne
Minister of Revenue
Hon Lianne Dalziel
Minister for Small Business
MEDIA STATEMENT
Govt seeks views on SME tax compliance costs
Owners and operators of small and medium-sized businesses are being invited to express their concerns about tax compliance costs via the government's Business Consultation Website www-businessconsultation.govt.nz [site no longer available - see Internet Archive for archived version].
"The purpose of the exercise is to ensure that the tax compliance cost problems of most concern to small and medium-sized businesses are covered in a discussion document planned for release later this year," Revenue Minister Peter Dunne and Small Business Minister Lianne Dalziel said today.
"The cost of meeting tax requirements is a big part of business compliance costs, and they can be a particular burden for small and medium-sized businesses, which make up the bulk of businesses in New Zealand.
"Recent years have seen a number of legislative changes designed to make tax easier for smaller businesses, including changes to the way that provisional tax and GST are paid and a new payroll agent subsidy to help small businesses with PAYE.
"There may be other measures – whether legislative or administrative – that will also help to reduce tax compliance costs for these businesses.
"As announced in the Budget, the forthcoming discussion document will explore further potential measures for simplifying tax compliance, focussing on small to medium-sized businesses.
"As an early part of this work, the Business Consultation Website offers owners and operators an opportunity to air their tax views on these matters and to suggest possible solutions to the problems they experience.
"We therefore invite all interested parties to take advantage of this preliminary, on-line consultation, the closing date for which is Monday, 16 July," the Ministers said.
Contact: Ted Sheehan, Peter Dunne's press secretary, 470 6985 or 021 638 920
Ellie McIntyre, Lianne Dalziel's press secretary, ph 04 471 9397 cell 021 227 9397