Tax Technical - Inland Revenue NZ

These are brief case summaries, prepared by Inland Revenue, of decisions made by the Taxation Review Authority, the District Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court in matters involving the Revenue Acts.  For Taxation Review Authority matters, names have been anonymized.  The holdings described in a case summary will no longer represent current law where the matter has been successfully appealed or subsequent amended legislation has been enacted.

Commissioner's statements

Informs taxpayers of the Commissioner’s position and the operational approach being adopted on a particular tax matter.

Determinations 

The Commissioner of Inland Revenue may (or in some cases must) issue determinations about various tax issues such as accrual expenditure, depreciation, financial arrangements, foreign currency, livestock valuations, standard costs for boarding service providers, and childcare providers. 

Fact sheets

Some of our longer or more complex items are accompanied by fact sheets, which summarise and explain the main points. 

General articles

Articles that do not belong to the other types listed here. 

Interpretation guidelines

These discuss the Commissioner's approach to the interpretation of a general area of law where there are also taxation implications. For example, IG009: Employee or independent contractor? assists taxpayers to determine their employment status for tax purposes.

Interpretation statements

These set out the Commissioner's view of the taxation laws in relation to a particular set of circumstances in cases when a binding public ruling cannot be issued or is considered to be inappropriate.

New legislation 

Explanations of changes to legislation including acts, general and remedial amendments, and Orders in Council. 

Operational guidelines

These are provided for information purposes only and do not replace or override any interpretations or other statements made with respect to the application of the law. 

Operational positions

The purpose of an Operational Position is to outline the legal position that the Commissioner considers is correct for an issue identified and the approach the Commissioner will be taking to applying that position in practice. 

Operational statements

These set out the Commissioner's view of the law in respect of the matter discussed. They are intended to be a preliminary view in the absence of a public binding ruling or an interpretation statement on the subject. 

PIB (Public Information Bulletin) 

To assist taxpayer certainty and compliance, we have completed a review of all tax technical items published in Public Information Bulletins (PIBs). 

Questions we've been asked

Issued by the Tax Counsel Office, these are published items about specific tax issues that set out the answers to enquiries we have received which may be of general interest to taxpayers. A general similarity to the items will not necessarily lead to the same tax result. Each case should be considered on its own facts. 

Revenue alerts

These are issued by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, and provide information about significant and/or emerging tax planning issues that are of concern to Inland Revenue. At the time an alert is issued, risk assessments will already be underway to determine the level of risk and to consider appropriate responses. A Revenue Alert will identify:

• the issue (which may be a scheme, arrangement or particular transaction) which the Commissioner believes may be contrary to the law, or is inconsistent with policy;
• the common features of the issue;
• our current view; and
• our current approach 

Rulings 

A binding ruling is Inland Revenue's interpretation of how a tax law applies to a particular arrangement or situation. 

Standard practice statements 

These statements describe how we will exercise a statutory discretion or deal with practical issues arising out of the administration of the Inland Revenue Acts. 

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