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Regulatory stewardship strategy

2 - The purpose of this strategy

In 2015, the Government asked seven of the main regulatory agencies[1] to publish annual assessments of the current state of their regulatory systems, plans for amendments to regulation and new regulation, and their views of important emerging issues for regulation.

This regulatory management strategy explains how Inland Revenue will meet its regulatory stewardship responsibilities under the State Sector Act 1988. This is Inland Revenue’s second regulatory stewardship strategy.

Inland Revenue’s responsibilities cover seven regulatory systems. Our largest regulatory system – revenue raising and collection – can be further broken down into sub-systems based on income tax and consumption tax.

Inland Revenue carries out numerous common regulatory functions:

  • policy;
  • legislation;
  • service design;
  • service delivery;
  • information provision;
  • compliance and enforcement;
  • monitoring and evaluation;
  • performance reporting; and
  • adjudication and rulings

In some of our regulatory systems, some functions are carried out by other agencies.

Definitions

  • A regulatory system is a set of rules, norms and sanctions, given effect through the actions and practices of designated actors, to shape behaviour or interactions in pursuit of a broad goal or outcome.
  • A regulated party is a person or organisation that is subject to behavioural expectations, obligations and/or sanctions within a regulatory system.
  • A regulatory agency is any agency (other than courts, tribunals and other independent appeal bodies) that has any of the following responsibilities for the whole or part of a regulatory system: monitoring; evaluation; performance reporting; policy advice; policy and operational design; legislative design; implementation; administration; information provision; standard-setting; licensing and approvals; or compliance and enforcement.
 

1 Inland Revenue, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Primary Industries, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Justice and the Department of Internal Affairs.