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.

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.

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.

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.

Yes, the convenience is undeniable, but...

I think there are two issues here:

Firstly, less paper and more dependence on digital could contribute to global warming, not help it (this is an area of current debate)...I would like to know how this increase in digital dependence will affect IRD's carbon footprint, especially in terms of the increased server traffic and need for new servers (not sure exactly how this works)

Second is a two-pronged issue:

1. Not everyone has fast internet or access to reliable computers. Yes, they could go to a library (unreliable too) or an internet cafe (extra cost) but what are the stats on the amount of people who this will be a disadvantage for? Are lower socio-economic groups going to struggle to fulfil the requirements? What is the current/proposed state of NZ broadband to allow this high traffic flow?

2. What percentage of the population are not digitally literate? Will there be paper options available for those people e.g. people who choose not to have an email address or who are worried about having their personal data online (don't use internet banking etc.) When you say secure, how exactly does that work?

In terms of the actual return itself, it is purely another format of the same thing we do now, so still requires all the other paperwork to be able to fill it out. So, no change of time there, except if we don't have to wait for a personal tax summary (maybe these could be online?)

Most of my time is wasted being on hold or waiting for a call back for up to an hour. Maybe if most people could just access their information at a click of a button, this wait time would be significantly reduced!

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???

As our accounting system requires two signatures, I'm not sure how that would work.

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.

I don't think allowing individuals to update their personal tax information through a secure space on the Inland Revenue website is really going to address the issue of "I don't like giving my employer details about my personal circumstances".

The proposal suggests that any update an individual makes to their personal tax information (via Inland Revenue website) will be automatically passed to their employers payroll software and the said software will be able to calculate the correct deductions without the employer being aware of what the deductions are for.  Sure the software can adjust the calculation of deductions but this would be done by setting specific flags and/or values for the employee so it would not be hidden from the employer (or the payroll clerk) at all.

However, the fact the proposal does not directly address the issue defined does not mean it is not a good proposal. Allowing individuals full control of their tax information online is a great idea but it must contain the facility to send (with attachments) and receive secure communications. I do think that once a taxpayer has agreed to deal online with IR then ALL their communication should be in that space e.g. confirmation of changes, statements, reminders etc – assuming the IR site provides the ability for them to be able to download/print any of the communications i.e. they can print themselves a hard copy if they want to.

While there will always be a segment of taxpayers who for whatever reason will not use this technology perhaps there could be an incentive for switching to on-line technology e.g. quicker refunds, guaranteed turnaround times on queries, extended payment time for terminal tax.
 

As a sole trader I presently use a spreadsheet as my cash book (downloaded a elegant template found on the Internet that seems to canvass everything I need).

But what if IRD provided an online cashbook type service instead. One that was just as easy to use i.e. one that was totally integrated with all tax/ACC obligations so that sorting out my bimonthly GST returns would be 'automated'. An assessment at year end would be much simpler / automated too perhaps?  ( this year I guess I'm going to have to tweak my spreadsheet when GST changes ... whereas an IRD service would do it once/right for everyone using such a service ... surely, nationally, this would save a lot of collective energy / effort  ). Surely the hassles of keeping records for 7 yrs etc would also get solved too? (assuming everything will be digital, and our digital identities will be secure and our records digitally archived correctly, etc)

Currently I have to copy/paste stuff from my spreadsheet into IRD's online forms. Similarly, at the end of the year to do my tax return online. Then of course IRD insist that I keep a paper copy (signed) of all my returns etc.

Lets get off the fence ... either we're going digital or we're not! ... lets move away from a halfway house.  I imagine that the whole process could be seriously renovated ... at least for relatively straightforward folk like me who are happy to work online and happy to authorise IRD to pull together RWT, ACC, taxable Dividends, banking records (GST EFTPOS transactions etc), to help automate the tax reconciliation processes. Isn't this what networked computers are good for!

And I don't care where in the cloud the processing is done, as long as everything is totally secure, totally private and totally within the sovereignty of NZ. May I assume that iGovt security (or similar) and other online policies of the Crown would guarantee this?  No compromises here please!