Wong Pansy: Taxation (Annual Rates GST Trans-Tasman Imputation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Wong Pansy: Taxation (Annual Rates GST Trans-Tasman Imputation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:613;Page:10090] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 When I took my first call I was slightly ahead of time in commenting on the wide range of commencement dates. In effect there are 15 commencement dates and I wonder whether the Minister in the chair the Hon Dr Cullen would take this opportunity to enlighten tax consultants petitioners and small-business people as to how they could comprehend and understand this bill when there are about 15 implementation dates. 
When I look at clause 2 “Commencement” it is interesting to note the schedule of commencement dates and while I may be ahead of time I can see that the Government is very much behind time. For example some of the commencement dates go back to 1994. In the latest Supplementary Order Paper there are amendments to the commencement dates that go back to 1994. Clause 2(2) on Supplementary Order Paper 169 states: “Section 103 is treated as coming into force on 1 July 1994.” Subclause (3) is treated as coming into force in December 1994. Subclause (4) states: “Section 75 is treated as coming into force on 1 April 1995.”; and subclause (5) states: “Sections 52(1) and 54(1) are treated as coming into force on 26 July 1996.” The references in the clauses refer to 1998 and 1999 and it is only halfway through those 15 implementation dates that I read that something will come into force in the year 2003. 
Maybe the Minister should take a call and explain all these complications and reassure taxpayers. Should taxpayers be panicking? Should they worry about the Inland Revenue Department knocking on their doors wondering what happened 6 7 or 8 years ago when they might not have filed a tax return correctly? Overall in this Parliament we treat retrospective legislation very seriously. It is bad enough for most people who are quite panicky about what the impact of changes to taxation bills might be but we are now facing a bill that not only includes changes but has 15 implementation dates. Half of those dates date back to before 2003 so how many tax consultants and accountants will have to go back to their clients’ files and make sure they are not caught inadvertently? 
Out of courtesy to the public I think the Minister should take a call to explain why we have a Supplementary Order Paper dated Tuesday 18 November 2003 when most of the dates we are looking at are between 1994 and 2000. I think catch-up legislation might be necessary but this bill seems to go back quite a few years. I think business people and tax accountants will be seeking guidance and reassurance from the Government that this bill is not looking to catch people up in these provisions without them even knowing that quite a few of those provisions have been backdated. 
People might think that a taxation bill is a dry piece of legislation but it has consequences even for small-business people because a lot of the issues we are looking at relate to GST. The threshold for GST registration is quite low and we are looking at some of the provisions relating to exempt income to see which part of the income might be subject to tax and which part might not be. But it is complicated in that one of the sections of the Act I was looking at—for example the definition of “financial services”—might be backdated to 1994.