Parker DavidHon DAVID PARKER (Attorney-General): Thank you Madam Chair. Can I thank the Finance and Expenditure Committee for the work that they've done on this part of the bill which as other speakers have said reforms the administration of the PAYE system. The first point I would make to the committee is that these changes are intended to reduce compliance costs by essentially aligning the Act with what is modern computerised practice enabled by computerised PAYE systems.PAYE systems are now set up being able to electronically forward the data to the Inland Revenue Department at the same time as the payments are made to employees more often than not on a fortnightly basis. Most people are paid fortnightly; some are paid weekly. It's inconvenient to employers to have to do that on a monthly basis when their computer systems are spitting it out on the pay period when people are actually paid and it's easier for them if we align their obligation to make their returns to the Inland Revenue Department when they're making the payment. There is no unfairness to employees here. The employer isn't paying the money; they're deducting it from the wages of the person who is in their employ. Instead of paying that part of the wages to the employee they are deducting it at source and handing it on to the Inland Revenue Department and now that technology enables this to be done virtually instantly with no inconvenience to the employer—and indeed with greater convenience to the employer—what this part of the bill does is make that the new norm so that in future the PAYE reporting obligations of employers will be occurring at the time they pay their employees and make the deduction. So requiring this to do this seems eminently sensible to me.In respect of the Finance and Expenditure Committee (FEC) recommendations they do make a recommendation in respect of out-of-cycle payments which is an amendment to allow employers to include reporting on out-of-cycle payments of employment income with their next regular payday report except where this would carry information over beyond the end of the PAYE payment. As introduced the bill would have required out-of-cycle payments to be reported on a per payday basis and as a consequence the FEC has come up with what seems to be a practical change to that proposal.In respect of late filing and non-electronic filing penalties amendments are being made as recommended by FEC to give inland revenue discretion in applying late filing and non-electronic filing penalties during the transition to the new payday reporting requirements. I think that's sensible. There is a period here when parties will be transitioning to the new regime and I for one am very happy to trust the wisdom of the officials at inland revenue to give them a discretion to waive penalties so that their focus can be on education as we transition into this new more efficient scheme rather than punishment for early non-compliance. That seems sensible to me and I think the FEC can be congratulated.There's another practical change. There is an amendment to allow a regulation-making power to enable transitional regulations to be made for correcting errors in employment income information so that they can be made from the date of the Royal assent rather than having to wait for the new empowering provision to come into effect. If there's a need for a transitional regulation-making power and it's identified earlier it seems sensible to me that we get that regulation in place from the date of Royal assent rather than from coming into force so that by the time it comes into force those regulations can be in place and the operation of the regime is more practical and simpler for those who are collecting tax on behalf of the Government.