Inland Revenue activity has become more aggressive in recent times as the government has been pressing for more revenue collection and media and public attitudes harden against perceived corporate tax avoidance. This is expected to intensify in coming years.

In our experience, Inland Revenue is:

• requesting more information from businesses
• conducting more audits and taking longer to conclude them
• increasingly reluctant to negotiate a settlement
• moving more matters to formal disputes, including litigation

New Zealand is not alone. KPMG's International Global Tax Benchmarking Survey 2016 confirms that behaviour is changing among tax authorities worldwide. Feedback suggests that executives are finding today's tax administrations increasingly difficult to deal with.

95% of tax disputes considered by the Disputes Revenue Unit went in favour of the Commissioner. KPMG's Tax Disputes team can help prevent, manage and resolve tax disputes.

Our services:

KPMG's national team of specialists has extensive experience assisting organisations resolve tax disputes, whilst maintaining an effective working relationship with Inland Revenue. We assist with all aspects of tax disputes, including:

1. Assessing uncertain tax positions and filing strategies
2. Preparation and filing of voluntary disclosures and section 113 requests
3. Management and advice in respect of contentious risk reviews and audits
4. Responding to information requests; and advice in respect of preserving privilege and tax advice non-disclosure rights
5. Time-bar waiver requests
6. Management of and advice in respect of the statutory disputes process
7. Undertaking settlement negotiations and mitigation of penalties

For further information, please download our Tax Disputes fact sheet