The FINANCIAL — A gathering this week of retirement and taxation experts at a University of Auckland symposium is expected to create a city-based forum able to assist the Government in considering key tax policy challenges.
The symposium, organised by the Retirement Policy and Research Centre within the Business School’s Department of Economics, plans to complement the work of a recently announced expert tax committee set up to help the Government with taxation issues.
Research centre co-director Dr Susan St John says Thursday’s event will debate specific issues relating to savings and retirement, and whether New Zealand needs to re-establish a more neutral and simpler regime that is based on the accepted principles of the 1990s.
“In the previous decade, the OECD described New Zealand as having the least distorting tax system under its umbrella,” Dr St John says. “Would it do that today?
“For the 10 years up to 2000, New Zealand had a broad base, low rate or comprehensive income tax system, supplemented by a broad-based GST. In this regime, there were some notable departures from neutrality, but saving specifically for retirement was not favoured for tax purposes over other forms of saving, such as bank deposits.
“Many changes since then have undermined the principles, and created new complexity, distortions and inequities. The welfare/tax interface has provided ongoing problems, made more complex by the transfer to the IRD of many specific welfare measures.
“We are hoping to support and complement what the Government’s tax committee is working on, as well as bring Auckland opinions, issues and concerns to the table.”
Speakers at the symposium will include economist Dr Brian Easton, Aventine director Michael Chamberlain, co-director of the Retirement Policy and Research Centre Michael Littlewood, Professor Craig Elliffe from The University of Auckland, and John Shewan of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Ernst & Young’s Aaron Quintal, IRD’s Adam Hunt, Victoria University’s Dr Lisa Marriott, Dr Ben Spies-Butcher from Macquarie University in Australia and Angela MacRae – former secretariat manager for the Todd Taskforces in 1992 and 1997 – will also address the gathering.
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