2. Question No. 2—RevenueNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of RevenueQuestion No. 2—Revenue2. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Revenue: Can he confirm that the reason overseas New Zealanders have received the cost of living payment is that the Inland Revenue Department has a New Zealand address for that taxpayer rather than an overseas one"; if so how many people does he estimate fail to change their address with Inland Revenue when they leave the country?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Revenue): At the risk of putting Herald political editor Claire Trevett to sleep yes the eligibility assessment for presence in New Zealand is based on the principal physical address held by Inland Revenue for an individual taxpayer. To the second part of the question there is no requirement to gain tax clearance when a person leaves New Zealand. Inland Revenue does not know the number of people who don't change their address when they leave New Zealand.Nicola Willis: Well in light of that answer isn't it potentially the case that hundreds of thousands of temporary migrants and New Zealanders have left the country without updating their address details with IRD and therefore hundreds of thousands of people have received the cost of living payment in error?Hon DAVID PARKER: As I have said on a number of occasions we'll never know the exact number of people who were paid the payment. We do know that the New Zealand tax data is very robust. I have personally said I think the number of wrong payments will be around 1 percent and I have repeatedly said to the House which I think is correct that the alternative application system for 2 million people would have cost a lot more than the money saved; the 1.3 million people who received a cost of living payment this week would not have received it; and the policy is better than the alternatives of tax cuts for CEOs and overseas landlords.Nicola Willis: Will New Zealanders ever know how many ineligible people living overseas have been paid the cost of living payment or is it the Government's position that they should instead rely on the wishful thinking of a Minister who freely admits his numbers are picked from the sky?Hon DAVID PARKER: As I have also repeatedly said Inland Revenue increasingly rely upon sophisticated software to automate previously manual transactions. This saves the Government and taxpayers millions and millions of dollars every year on administration and has cut staff numbers at Inland Revenue by about 2000 people. The benefits to taxpayers include automated assessments and refunds and other payments worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year. The use of automated data sets which we continually strive to improve is wise saves money and will continue and I will add is what was used throughout for COVID support payments.Nicola Willis: Well isn't it the case that despite sophisticated data systems at the heart of his Government's cost of living payment policy is a fatal flaw: that it rested on the assumption that New Zealanders ring the IRD to change their address when they leave the country?Hon DAVID PARKER: In answer to the first part of the question no; and it's plainly no.Nicola Willis: Can he be confident that no deceased people have been paid the cost of living payment?Hon DAVID PARKER: In response to that I would quote James K. Baxter: Alone we are bornAnd die alone;Yet see the red-gold cirrusOver snow-mountains shine.Upon the upland roadRide easy stranger:Surrender to the skyYour heart of anger.In other words: after someone has died they can't update their details to Inland Revenue. What Inland Revenue relies upon is periodic information that comes through from Internal Affairs which is itself imperfect but the best that the country has.Nicola Willis: How many deceased people have been paid the cost of living payment?Hon DAVID PARKER: Probably around the same number as deceased people's bank accounts that get superannuation or unemployment or other payments—or perhaps even National Party pamphlets—after they die.Nicola Willis: Has he sought advice on how many prisoners have been paid the cost of living payment despite being ineligible?Hon DAVID PARKER: No I haven't and I haven't received a report as to any. They are ineligible to receive the payment.Nicola Willis: Is he concerned that intentional misinformation has been spread about the number of people who've been paid the cost of living payment including by the Labour Party in a fund-raising email which stated that more than 2 million people had received the payment?Hon DAVID PARKER: I have no ministerial responsibility for that email."