Woods Megan: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Woods Megan: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 28 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4849. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram) 
: 
 I am very happy to take a call on Part 2 of the Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill. I want to touch on a couple of areas specifically and talk about some of the reasons why Labour is supporting this part of the legislation. I want to first of all touch on Supplementary Order Paper 98 and the provisions that are there to support Canterbury businesses and to thank the Minister in the chair the Minister of Revenue and the select committee that looked at this legislation the Finance and Expenditure Committee for a very pragmatic and very common-sense—if I can use the term—set of measures that will be put in place to help Christchurch and Canterbury businesses get through. 
These are some very technical taxation issues that will make a real difference to the viability of so many businesses in Christchurch and they do deserve to be commended. These are things that we never thought we would have to deal with in our taxation system such as how it is that we treat depreciation on assets or even land that has been damaged and then paid out on and how it is in the taxation system we are going to deal with such massive amounts of insurance receipts and income and where that sits in terms of financial years. There are a lot of very technical issues that need to be dealt with for Christchurch businesses and we in Labour support those measures that are being put in place and can see the real difference that they will make to so many businesses in Christchurch. 
The other piece of the legislation in terms of the shopping list that Part 2 does that I want to touch on—and a couple of colleagues have already touched on this as well—are the provisions around unsuccessful software development. I think this is a provision that actually shows the potential of what the taxation system can do in terms of the kinds of levers it can offer beyond mere revenue generation and collecting of revenue in our economy. What we have here is a provision that is intended to provide for expenditure on software that needs further development to become depreciable property. That is if it is going to need further work on it it can be depreciated. 
What we are seeing here is the use of the taxation system to encourage businesses to take some risks to innovate within their business processes and to look at software development that might be used. What we are seeing here is that there is actually going to be a way in which the taxation system can offer those benefits for projects that do not actually make it—for unsuccessful software developments—because we do need to have the courage to innovate and we do need to have the levers and the mechanisms in place that do that. 
I guess one of the things that has been talked about and the Minister talked about it tonight is that this is one of the things that can make us a more competitive and productive economy. This is a very small start but I think it really draws into sharp relief for me and my colleagues on this side of the Chamber what a real opportunity we lost by getting rid of the research and development tax credit using the taxation system in a real and meaningful way to be able to innovate. 
Progress to be reported presently. 
House resumed. 
The Chairperson reported progress on the Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill and no progress on the Trade (Safeguard Measures) Bill. 
Report adopted.