Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 01 July 2008. Volume:648;Page:17023. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
5.  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Revenue 
: Does he have confidence in his department’s ability to collect outstanding taxes; if so what directions if any has he given when taxes are not paid in accordance with the law on goods and services tax? 
Hon PETER DUNNE (Minister of Revenue) 
: 
 Yes I do have confidence in the department’s ability to collect outstanding taxes and for that reason I have not issued any instructions or directions to the Inland Revenue Department. The Commissioner of Inland Revenue is responsible for administering the revenue Acts and is charged with collecting the highest net revenue over time that is practicable within the law and I expect him to meet that obligation. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Referring to section 6 of the Tax Administration Act 1994 what was the solution presented by the National Party to the department in its dilemma over non-payment of GST in the 2005 election; and is he satisfied that its solution upheld the integrity of the tax system which is the subject of section 6 of the Act? 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: I am not permitted under the legislation to disclose the affairs of individual taxpayers. What I can say is that section 6 of the Tax Administration Act 1994 does impose obligations upon the commissioner with regard to the collection of revenue and he needs to do so mindful of the resources available to him at the time and also of the duties and the responsibilities of the taxpayer concerned. I would expect those obligations to have been followed in this case as with every other case. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm that when National put legislation to the House to enable it to comply with the GST rules Parliament objected including New Zealand First but that New Zealand First then voted for retrospective legislation to make sure it did not have to repay to the taxpayer all the money it owed after the Auditor-General’s report? 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. On two counts is that not an inappropriate question by the member namely the Hon Bill English? Firstly it raises a different issue but secondly as a former Minister of Revenue he should know all about integrity and that is why he is embarrassed today. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No the question was within the Standing Orders. 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: I am not responsible for what happened in the House in the time that the member described but like him I do recall what happened and I am sure all members will draw their own conclusions. The key point is that the revenue Acts impose certain obligations upon the commissioner and taxpayers with regard to their responsibilities and my role is to see that they are met. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is he concerned— 
Rodney Hide 
: Just pay it! 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I have paid it. [ 
Interruption 
] Oh yes we have—unlike the National Party and unlike as I will demonstrate very shortly that member! OK? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No would the member please be seated. Interjections do provoke disorder and we just saw an example of that. So I ask members to keep their interjections rare otherwise I will be asking them to leave the Chamber if they create disorder. Now will the member just ask his question. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the Minister concerned that no prosecution was brought against the National Party for its non-payment of $112000 of GST after it blatantly and knowingly overspent its State-funded broadcast allocation during the last election campaign; and what message does that send to the hundreds of small businesses— 
Bob Clarkson 
: Well that’s the pot calling the kettle black! 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Well here comes “Bob the Quitter”. Madam Speaker I am trying to ask this question and he is shouting out having ripped off the ratepayers of Tauranga to the tune of $12 million for a stadium. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The member will please be seated. The only way we will get through this question is if it is heard in silence. Would the member please repeat it quickly. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the Minister concerned that no prosecution was brought against the National Party for its non-payment of $112000 of GST after it blatantly and knowingly overspent its State-funded broadcast allocation during the last election campaign; and what message does that send to hundreds of thousands of small business owners who are chased up by the Inland Revenue Department daily due to overdue non-paid GST? 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: We have a tax system that relies on fair compliance by all taxpayers. Clearly when any taxpayer or group of taxpayers fail to meet their obligations it not only creates a sense of unfairness within the system but certainly generates a feeling amongst other taxpayers that some people are getting away with things that they are not able to get away with. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Is the Minister aware that despite claims of an honest mistake the deputy leader of the National Party was the last Minister of Revenue when National was last in Government and the 2005 election was the seventh election since GST was introduced; did his department take this into account when it decided not to prosecute National over $112000 of unpaid GST; and is he confident that the public’s perception of the integrity of our tax system has not suffered as a result of this deceitful episode of one law for one group and another law for another group? 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: I am happy to confirm that the Goods and Services Tax Act was passed in 1985 and that Mr English was the Minister of Revenue at the time of the 1999 change of Government. I cannot comment on what negotiations may have taken place between his party and the commissioner for the reasons that I outlined earlier on. The other point that I would make is that I do have a concern across the board about the integrity of our tax system and for that reason I am keen to see all taxpayers meet their legitimate obligations. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Can the Minister confirm that when the National Party came up with an arrangement to pay some money by way of a donation for a charity to Television New Zealand that payment attracted gift duty and has the National Party paid that gift duty yet? 
Hon PETER DUNNE 
: As I have said in response to earlier answers I am not in a position to comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers and therefore I am not able to answer that question directly—nor frankly should I be.