28 February 2020 New Zealand Inland Revenue releases GST Policy Issues Paper New Zealand's Inland Revenue (IR) has released its long-awaited Policy Issues Paper proposing a number of amendments to the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985. The issues and proposed solutions covered in the paper are wide ranging and the paper will be of interest across all sectors. IR is seeking submissions on the proposals by 9 April 2020; a short window. Subject to feedback received, the Government is most likely to include the amendments to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act in the next suitable tax bill.
IR is proposing to amend the definition of financial services to provide a more certain GST position for those in the industry. Certainty would be a positive development given that the GST treatment of such services has been based on an industry agreement for some time (whereby 10% of the services are treated as taxable, and the remaining are considered exempt). However, the options put forward are wide ranging and would have different impacts for different fund managers.
It appears from the Issues Paper that zero-rating or a reduced input tax credit (like that applying in Australia) appears to be the least preferred option. IR is proposing that any change apply prospectively with grandfathering of the treatment of existing contracts. IR is also seeking input on how the services are defined. Given the significant differences in the proposed options, those in the industry should consider making submission. Under the current rules, a GST-registered recipient of an insurance pay-out is required to account for GST on the pay-out (when certain conditions are met), whether or not they are a party to the insurance contract. IR is concerned that third parties may not always know they are receiving an insurance pay-out and fail to account for the GST, resulting in a loss of revenue. Officials have put forward several options with the aim of improving compliance in this area, including:
IR is seeking input in relation to both the extent of the existing problem and on the costs, benefits and practical issues with the options put forward. Officials are particularly interested in understanding the impact on insurers, acknowledging that the some of the options would result in additional compliance costs and a requirement for system changes. With the objective of aligning GST invoice requirements with changes in business practices and the use of technology, IR's proposals include:
These proposals are welcome as changes to these rules are long overdue. However, we believe Officials could have gone further and explored whether existing thresholds are still fit for their intended purpose. As well as seeking views on the proposals, IR has asked for submissions on further simplifications that could be made. There is an opportunity here to provide Officials with an understanding of current issues or compliance challenges that could be simplified or improved. IR is proposing that crypto-assets should be excluded from the ambit of GST and the financial arrangement rules to ensure these rules do not impose barriers to investing into, or raising capital from, crypto-assets. The change would provide certainty to the market. IR proposes that crypto-assets should have a similar tax treatment to other investment products or asset classes which are close substitutes for the crypto-asset. The change will level the playing field between crypto-asset transactions and fiat currency transactions by ensuring that crypto-asset transactions will no longer be at risk of "double-GST." The two options put forward to remove GST from supplies of crypto-assets are to apply a treatment similar to money (outside the scope of GST) or exempt financial supplies (even when supplied to a nonresident). The preferred option appears to be treating crypto-assets as money to remove complexity and compliance issues. Officials also acknowledge that the exempt financial supply option may create a barrier for the New Zealand market. IR also proposes that the existing rule enabling input tax recovery on capital raising costs also apply to raising capital through issuing crypto-assets. IR is taking a pragmatic approach by proposing that the relevant law changes apply retrospectively from 1 January 2009, to precede the launch of the first crypto-currency on 3 January 2009. IR acknowledges that the current input tax apportionment and adjustment rules are complex and do not accurately reflect the actual mix of taxable and non-taxable supplies. There are several proposals in the paper, including a new wash-up formula for the change in use wash-up calculation for non-land assets, and changes to the concurrent use of land apportionment formula and wash-up adjustments for land. IR is seeking views on the proposals as well as other suggestions for making the rules more straightforward. Developers, including operators of retirement villages, should review the proposals as many of the proposed changes may impact them. With the objective of aligning the GST treatment more closely with other countries (such as Australia and Singapore) and to make the industry more competitive from a GST perspective, Officials have proposed changes to zero-rate the following:
IR has proposed some technical changes to the rules, including clarification of the requirement for the purchaser to account for output tax when a sale was incorrectly zero-rated and clarification of the time of supply rules. Removal of one of the limitations on claiming second-hand input tax credits between associated persons Currently a second-hand goods input tax credit is not available between associated persons if there was no GST charged on the original acquisition of the goods, which often produces an unfair outcome. The proposed amendment would remove this limitation.
Document ID: 2020-0460 |
