Bayly Andrew: Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBayly Andrew: Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 13 October 2015. Volume:709;Page:7172. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): I rise to give a short call in the first reading of this great piece of legislation—the Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill. I think we have actually reached nirvana—utopia—because everyone in this Chamber tonight seems to be agreeing with this wonderful piece of legislation. I cannot actually believe it. Not only do we have our Labour members but also we have our Green members and even New Zealand First—actually I think this is one of the few times that those members have ever supported one of our bills.I think that we have to look at this bill in the context of what a great tax system New Zealand has. It is the envy of the world. We have very simple personal tax rates with only four levels; very simple company and trust rules; and a GST system that really everyone around the world looks at and marvels at. This bill is part of an ongoing refinement process and it needs to be considered in relation to the changes that the Inland Revenue Department is making to its IT system and the general business transformation programme that it has under way.As my colleagues have noted and I think all of us have noted tonight there are four key areas where this bill is seeking to bring about change which I do not actually think is that difficult but my colleague Mr Tabuteau obviously thinks it is. There are only four key changes. The first is that the bill removes references to outdated communications systems and allows voice and digital communication systems which is obviously what is happening and has been occurring with legal documents around the world and in New Zealand; so it is just bringing us into the 21st century.Also it allows for earlier tax refunds and I would think there is a vast proportion of New Zealanders who are going to welcome the change which means that if they file their form using their personal summary not only will they get their refund quicker decreasing it from 30 days to 15 days but also the threshold for the automatic refund is going to increase from $200 to $600. I think there will be many people rejoicing once they learn about this.The third thing is that the Inland Revenue Department is going to be able to share information with other agencies and that is a good thing to do. Just to give a logical case where a provider has left a superannuation scheme the Inland Revenue Department has the ability to share that information with a provider. It just makes it much easier for the taxpayer.Fourthly it will allow taxpayers to treat differently how they put in place employee share schemes. These are now quite common in many companies and of course in the case of share purchase schemes as an example employers are bound to withhold tax legitimately. So it is great to see this bill coming in. I know that it is an omnibus bill but I think it is bringing about a number of good changes which are an ongoing refinement of this bill. I am glad that I have got through this speech with my voice still intact. Thank you.