Individuals forums - top comments

This is how I do my banking

Deitrich von Stade — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:41:24 +0000

This is how I do my banking and manage most of my bills. Provided I can do everything online that I can currently do over the phone or in writing then I think this is a good idea.

What is meant by small?

portia — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:28:01 +0000

What is meant by small? Apart from very small refunds - perhaps $10 - if a person can be bothered going through the hoops that it takes to get a refund, Inland Revenue should be obliged to make it, especially if it is all going to be done on-line in the future.

Great idea. Would it be

D Miller — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:05:48 +0000

Great idea. Would it be possible to also include details of interest received & RWT deducted from banks on your summary of earnings? Employment income & PAYE details are included, but if the IRD could collect the info from banks about interest & RWT it would save time & hassle.

Depends how the website

portia — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:31:40 +0000

Depends how the website works. Trying to do this year's Personal Tax Summary on line was useless. I still have to wait until July to get it. The Government must be saving thousands of dollars by Inland Revenue being so slow in issuing refunds. In the days of IR5s, I would have my refund in weeks not months.

I definitely think they

kayebird — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:32:08 +0000

I definitely think they should be available as POD (print on demand). There are systems out there which are now available for cheap print on demand. I think people should have the choice and the option. Trying to read and navigate heavy information such as IRD info is not always easy on a screen. Internet relies on electricity too remember and computers are liable to break down.

I agree though that providing information targeted to each individual's circumstances, and more accessible general information, on the Inland Revenue website is a good thing. But more people will be ringing up about the details if they don't have easy access in an easy to read format.

Make it something I can

Deitrich von Stade — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:03:08 +0000

Make it something I can choose rather than be forced into doing and I might consider it. Id also want to option to turn the paper back on if the electronic versions weren't up to scratch. Id probably insist on a paper notice of assessment just so Ive got the physical proof of my status. Electronic records "can" be changed. A piece of paper with a receipt number gives me reassurance everything is OK

As for anything else I get sent, just email it to me. If I miss a payment, email me. If I forget a return, email me. After Ive filed and squared everything up let me choose to get a piece of paper.

I strongly disagree that PAYE

Jim — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:07:28 +0000

I strongly disagree that PAYE should be a final tax.

Working less during the year while taxing at a full year rate will punish anyone over the month threshold discussed.

Sure, IRD wants to reduce its compliance costs and to hold onto small refunds that have high marginal costs for refunding.

In my opinion, that's tough. We work to earn a living, and that is money we earned. Keeping more than the absolute calculated correct amount is both lazy and immoral.

It is up to IRD to design systems that make their job easier at their own end, without penalising the hard working public. If you want to collect as much tax as possible, fine.

But it is not a one way street. We have burdens to bear to comply with your tax law, you have a burden to make sure we can get back as much benefit as we can.

If we have refunds available, we should be able to claim them, end of story.

So to answer the question, everyone should be able to file an income tax return. If you have small amounts due from us, and the cost benefit of you collecting them is not worth your trouble, then that is your call, not ours.

$50 might not mean anything to such a huge organisation, but it will buy shoes for the kids, food, or at least some benefit in our lives.

Such a move would only provide benefit to IRD, not the public who, believe it or not, you are here to serve.

I think it would be awesome

wsandle — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:18:32 +0000

I think it would be awesome if I could scan and upload my reciept from donations etc and file these online.

Why cant IRD hurry up the tax returns? cant understand why it takes 10 Weeks???

Yes, I would like to be able

Bea — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:51:02 +0000

Yes, I would like to be able to conduct all transactions with Inland Revenue online. It would mean I can do it after work hours.

If a taxpayer is going to

Taxpayer92 — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:38:29 +0000

If a taxpayer is going to provide a bank account number, then the IRD should make a payment.

Yes, make cheques by mail subject to a minimum amount.

Not everyone has on-line

portia — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:21:52 +0000

Not everyone has on-line access.

No. Firstly you need to

Kim — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:01:23 +0000

No. Firstly you need to define what 'small' is. You maybe talking about anything up to $200+. Also you say that the improved system will ensure that there is no error between PAYE and business software - this is difficult to believe. There are myriads of ways to qualify for a tax refund and everyone so have the right to be able to check they have paid the correct amount of tax and claim a refund if needed. This is simply IRD trying to cut down their workload of which I imagine a far bit consists of people filing for Personal Tax Summaries at the end of the financial year. Move it to online to increase efficiencies but don't take away our right to check we've paid the correct amount of tax.

Would like to see much

1137000538@facebook — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 07:48:57 +0000

Would like to see much clearer information around claiming tax refunds.

I agree with the above two

Bea — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:10:42 +0000

I agree with the above two that everyone should be able to file a return if they want to, but that under certain circumstances they should not be required to file a return. There are already circumstances under which people are not required to file a return, so I think the current rules are close to adequate. IRD's online system needs to be improved to make it easier for individuals to calculate whether they have overpaid tax or not, so they can easily make the choice.

Changes that would be beneficial are: raising the threshold of overseas interest/dividends earnt before you are required to file a return (currently only $200), and not being required to file a return to bring forward a loss from the previous year or excess imputation credits from the previous year (they should be brought forward automatically without the taxpayer being required to do anything).

Inland Revenue should be

portia — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:23:40 +0000

Inland Revenue should be obliged to notify a person if it looks as though his or her tax has been overpaid.

The more I think about this,

portia — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:50:08 +0000

The more I think about this, the more I think it will be unfair unless Inland Revenue is able to demonstrate that the changes it is going to make to PAYE deductions reduce the current inaccuracies.

The figures given in paragraph 7.11 of the discussion document show that just 20% of taxpayers had close to the correct deductions made. Of the other 80%, 31% were overdeducted and 49% underdeduction - with the averages being $188 and $108 respectively. I don't know anyone who would not claim a refund of $188, and this is just the average - some refunds must be much greater than this.

Therefore, taxpayers must continue to be able to claim their refunds until such time as PAYE is significantly more accurate.

I don't think that this is a

760357388@facebook — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:42:56 +0000

I don't think that this is a good idea. There will always be a need for some form of information in paper form, particularly when it comes to something important as tax: the consequences of incorrect tax payments are high, consequently this drives people's behaviour. People will want to be sure and certain, and information in paper form is holds those qualities, whereas online 'forms' do not.

I have, for the past few years, since the opportunity first arose, filed my taxes online. The process is simpler and quicker. However, I find that the process needs to be supported with paper forms - counter intuitively. Filling out a paper based form gives me certainty and I can double check that I have put all the figures in the right place. Mistakes made on a paper form are easily rectified - I rub figures out and write in the correct figures. Mistakes made online are not easy to correct - you have to phone up and get someone to change it for you.

One thing baffles me though - the flow of boxes for the required information (incomes, taxes paid etc) is different between the IR10 and the online form. I find that I need to work on a paper IR10 first and complete the return using this format, then spend about 15-20 minutes transferrring it to the online form.

I am surprised that given the amount of resourcing IRD has put into this area that they would make the online 'form' radically different to the paper form.

The principle is that as far as practicable, form design should be identical no matter what the format is - paper or online.

I filed my IR3 online this

Litterarum — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:37:20 +0000

I filed my IR3 online this year and it took twice as long to get processed as my paper return did last year.

I can't see where the changes they're suggesting are that much different to the online services already available. I'd definitely like to see processing times improved, especially for electronic filing of returns.

The only situation where I

Lerb — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:30:35 +0000

The only situation where I think that this information sharing could be available is between IRD and WINZ, and IRD and Studylink.

These are the only situations that I can think of where the information that would be transferred automatically (i.e. income levels) would need to be given to the organisation anyway (to adjust Allowances, Benefits, etc.), and there is a close and direct relationship between the two.

My preference would be the optional ability to link WINZ and IRD for those who receive benefits/allowances, to simplify it for those who wish to, and to allow the choice not to do so if they so wish.

I am retired, and have a

Bruce — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:11:07 +0000

I am retired, and have a small income from term deposits and NZ shares. My IRD number is associated with all my bank accounts, and shares. I would very much like it if my summary of earnings from IRD included all the income from these sources, and indeed computed my likely refund or tax to pay, given that my summary of earnings represents my total earnings. Then all I would need to do is confirm that, and filling in my tax form would be trivial. Admittedly such a system would not cope with people with overseas shares, but perhaps eventually it would be possible to include shares from the most obvious country, namely Australia. Keeping track of all the bits of paper for dividends, etc, is a big hassle for elderly people, who know nothing about business.