Individuals are often required to provide the same information to different government agencies. This is because government agencies do not routinely share information.

Paula works for a small trucking company. Because of business problems the company has closed and Paula has lost her job. Paula sees this as an opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming a world-class chef. Paula has been accepted into a well-respected chef’s course at the local university.
Unfortunately the chef’s course is not due to start for four months, so Paula has applied for an unemployment benefit from WINZ. Paula needs to provide WINZ with information, such as contact details, confirmation of citizenship and income details for the last 52 weeks (which is difficult for her to calculate, and which she can no longer obtain from her former employer). Paula receives her first benefit six weeks after she applied. Paula is struggling to make ends meet and shifts to a cheaper flat.
Paula contacts WINZ to update her address. She also finds part-time work, which has variable hours, at the local RSA as a payroll officer for the remaining two months before her course starts. Paula now has to contact WINZ each week with her income details, so her benefit can be adjusted.
 

Inland Revenue has a wide range of information about individuals, such as contact details, income, number of dependents, student loan details, and social policy entitlements. Inland Revenue sharing some of this PAYE information with other government agencies will, in some situations, mean people will no longer have to provide information to a number of different departments that require the same PAYE information that Inland Revenue already has.
Inland Revenue will become a single point of contact for PAYE information. PAYE information will only be shared if there is a clear benefit to the individual while maintaining Inland Revenue’s current privacy and tax secrecy obligations.
To find out more about the options for sharing PAYE information in the future, see chapter 8 of the Government’s discussion document, Making Tax Easier.
 

Paula works for a small trucking company. Because of business problems the company has closed and Paula has lost her job. Paula sees this as an opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming a world-class chef. Paula has been accepted into a well-respected chef’s course at the local university.
Unfortunately the chef’s course is not due to start for four months, so Paula has applied for an unemployment benefit from WINZ . Paula simply gives her IRD number to her WINZ case manager and her unemployment benefit application is processed much faster as result of the information WINZ obtains from Inland Revenue.
When Paula begins part-time employment at the local RSA, her benefit is adjusted automatically, as her PAYE information from her new job is sent to Inland Revenue and relevant information is shared with WINZ. When Paula moves flats she updates her information on her personalised, secure page in the Inland Revenue website, and this information is also available to WINZ.