We were eagerly awaiting an announcement in yesterday's Budget 2015 speech on digital services but.... nothing. How many more countries need to take the lead on this before NZ acts?
Iain Blakeley
Barrister - Tax Expert - Business Adviser - Director, Professional, Practical, Fast, Affordable Non-residents
Australia jumps ahead of NZ in taxing digital commerce
The Australian Government has released draft legislation proposing to apply GST to downloads and streaming of digital content and other services supplied from offshore to Australian consumers. This will affect media such as games, movies, e-books and music downloaded...
Govt raises stakes for online shoppers
The NZ Prime Minister says his government will go it alone if the OECD doesn't move quickly enough to impose GST or VAT on online sales. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11418586 The fact the Prime Minister is raising this now is...
Governments using lotteries to collect tax
Tax collectors in the EU are looking more closely at the use of lotteries to tackle VAT evasion. This paper, just published, discusses how existing lottery schemes work and reveals there could be upside for governments. It concludes more empirical evidence is needed...
28 October deadline for non-residents
Non-residents wishing to register under the special GST registration system have until 28 October to ensure their registration (and refund claims) are backdated to 1 April 2014. All non-resident businesses who have incurred costs in New Zealand and who are not already...
Visiting sports teams
The recent publicity about AFL players being pinged for income tax as "entertainers" when they played the Anzac Day matches here is interesting. See here: http://www.3news.co.nz/Wellington-AFL-game-hit-with-tax/tabid/415/articleID/355731/Default.aspx Like everything...
NZ businesses are getting it wrong
I'm seeing increasing evidence of misunderstanding over how the zero rating rules apply. From 1 April 2014 non-resident businesses can register for GST in NZ under a new system which allows them to claim GST refunds on business related costs. Historically a business...
Global VAT alignment edges closer
At the Global Forum on VAT in Tokyo last week 86 countries signed up to the first agreed framework for applying VAT to internationally traded services and intangibles. The new guidelines set out core VAT principles to be applied when taxing services and intangibles,...
At least it’s a start – UPDATE on E-commerce in South Africa
At least it's a start. An update on the South African proposal to require non-resident e-services suppliers to register for VAT. The effective date for the new rules has been stretched out to 1 June 2014 (an extension of 2 months) to allow businesses more time to...
Are you ready for the 1st of April 2014?
Change to tax law is as certain as tax itself.The 1st of April is a favourite of governments around the world for ushering in tax changes.Here's a snippet of some changes that are coming into force in GST, VAT and other indirect taxes on 1 April:Albania - Supplies of...
Who’s making submissions?
I'm interested in hearing from anyone who is considering making a submission in response to the latest discussion document from Inland Revenue on GST. They are looking for feedback on the suggestion of loosening the rules for overseas businesses wanting to recover GST...