TIB - October 1996

The Taxpayer Compliance, Penalties, and Disputes Resolution Bill was introduced into Parliament in October 1995 and passed in July 1996. The compliance and penalties provisions of the legislation resulted in amendments to these Acts:

• Tax Administration Act 1994
• Income Tax Act 1994
• Goods and Services Tax Act 1985
• Stamp and Cheque Duties Act 1971
• Gaming Duties Act 1971
• Estate and Gift Duties Act 1968
• Student Loan Scheme Act 1992
• Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Act 1992
• Child Support Act 1991

This Tax Information Bulletin deals with the legislative changes relating to compliance and penalties. The changes pertaining to the new disputes resolution procedures were addressed in TIB Volume Eight, No.3 (August 1996).

The main features of the new legislation are:

• a clear statement of taxpayer obligations
• new interest rules for overpayments and underpayments of tax
• new penalty and remission rules.

All section references in this document relate to the Tax Administration Act 1994 unless otherwise indicated.

These reforms follow on from the Government discussion documents Taxpayer compliance, standards and penalties (August 1994), and Taxpayer compliance, standards and penalties 2 (April 1995).