Recently, the New Zealand Commissioner of Inland Revenue (the Commissioner) was given discretionary powers to temporarily change due dates, timeframes, and procedural requirements in tax legislation for businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These discretionary powers are intended to give the Commissioner greater flexibility to apply tax legislation in a fair and practical way for taxpayers. The Commissioner can now extend a due date, deadline or time period and modify an administrative requirement. Under the COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Other Regulatory Urgent Measures) Act 2020, Inland Revenue must publish any variation to the tax rules made with these new powers.
This Tax Tips Alert outlines the effect of the eight variations released so far.
