Jones Shane: Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Third Reading 
Jones Shane: Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:630;Page:2100] 
SHANE JONES (Labour) 
: 
 After hearing an opinion like that I think that someone is about to be scratched from the Opposition no doubt. However I have a few things to say which are obviously in support of what has become colloquially known as the “May tax bill”. Its formal name is the Taxation (Depreciation Payment Dates Alignment FBT and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. Despite the public policy differences amongst members on the Finance and Expenditure Committee as I have said earlier there was a passable level of collegiality. We members of the select committee had different levels of experience and different war stories to tell about either our constituents or our personal interfaces with the revenue collection system. 
I point out something that must not go unmarked—that over the period of 4 years in excess of $1 billion will be restored to taxpayers via let me say it this taxation set of measures. I also remind the House that in the last 20 years this is probably the first heavy-duty attempt we have had at finessing or rationalising the fringe benefit tax regime. When the committee left those matters we could not finalise with the officials it was heartening to know that the officials would go away put unresolved matters in a business programme and continue to look for better ways to make the regime more business-friendly or more compliance-friendly. 
I think this bill has attempted to do two additional things. Obviously it is pro-business and pro - economic growth and the depreciation changes are the largest contribution that the business world or business owners—taxpayers in a commercial sense—will enjoy. As I have said they will have in excess of $1 billion over 4 years. But there has been far too much scaremongering over the question of whether we are disappearing into some black hole—something akin to Tasmania—because the rest of Australia is taking us over. This tax bill actually provides incentives and simplifies the process for our people to come back home. 
Once again the officials said they would monitor the situation in relation to the 4-year holiday. We have heard from members of the Opposition that recently changes have been coming out of the Australian regime and it is pleasing to note that the officials are conscious that we are in an inexorable contest with our friends in Australia as to whether we can retain develop and attract back to Aotearoa the diaspora. It is pleasing to see that although people are going over to Australia others continue to come back home as well. 
In addition to that we are seeing an attempt here to lessen the burden on those elements in the small-business community who find the whole tax regime either confounding or an unnecessary distraction. Whether they are in strugglers’ gully or up on the summit looking at a vista of gold they struggle with the ongoing hassles of dealing with the bureaucracy and ensuring that they are compliant with the tax regime. To that extent although it is a relatively small amount of money an important step is being taken in order to ensure that small-business owners have an opportunity to call upon the subsidised services of a payroll agent. 
That however does place an ongoing obligation on those who implement the regime—in particular the Inland Revenue Department. Indeed today we had the review of that department and we were assured that it continues to believe that the centre of its creed is to be professional and also to make it easier for those payers to be more conscious of their obligations or to facilitate their meeting. Of course there are always mistakes and errors and there are many reasons why those errors take place but it was pleasing to see that the department will now have discretion to ensure that the full force of the penalties regime does not fall like a guillotine on the necks of a lot of long-suffering taxpayers. 
In closing I say that the bill is business-friendly. It was useful to have the perspectives of all the select committee members. As I said earlier although there are differing perspectives as to where tax rates should be I think all of us felt that this legislation is a definite step in the right direction and officials have gone away to do further work.