Commissioner of Inland Revenue
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1878 |
| Preceding agency |
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| Jurisdiction | New Zealand |
| Headquarters | 55 Featherston Street Pipitea Wellington 6012 |
| Employees | 5,789 |
| Annual budget | Total budget for 2016/17 Vote Revenue $6,751 million |
| Minister responsible |
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| Agency executive |
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| Website | www |
Inland Revenue (IRD; former known name: Inland Revenue Department) (Māori: Te Tari Taake) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on tax policy, collecting and disbursing payments for social support programmes, and collecting tax.
The Department's Māori name, Te Tari Taake, is an older spelling of Te Tari Tāke, meaning The Department [of] Tax. Despite long vowels in Māori now being expressed with macrons over the vowel rather than double vowels, the Department continues to use the double vowel due to the resemblance of the word tāke to the English word take.
Inland Revenue started out as the Land Tax Department in 1878. The Department was renamed the Land and Income Tax Department in 1892 with the central office set up in Wellington.
Only in 1952, when the organisation joined with the Stamp Duties Department, was the organisation known as the Inland Revenue Department.
In 1995, a Rewrite Advisory Panel was established to consider and advise on issues arising during the rewriting of the income tax legislation, as part of New Zealand tax reform arising from the Working Party on the Reorganisation of the Income Tax Act 1976. The panel was disestablished in 2014 at the completion of the tax reform.
In 2015–16, Inland Revenue collected $63.4 billion in tax revenue, which was more than 80% of the money the government used to pay for services that all New Zealanders benefited from, including social security and welfare, health and education. Other services included law and order, housing and community development, environmental protection, defence, transport, and heritage, culture and recreation.
The Department also administers the following social support programmes:
Legislation administered by the Inland Revenue Department includes:
Inland Revenue has been criticised for what are seen as heavy handed tactics when forcing payment from debtors, specifically those owing tax arrears and child support payments, and for charging excessive penalties on debts which result in debtors falling into a cycle whereby they are unable to pay the growing amounts they owe. The approach of Inland Revenue has been implicated in a number of suicides and other acts of self-harm.
The Minister of Inland Revenue is the political office of Minister for the department of Inland Revenue. Since December 2016, the position has been held by Judith Collins.
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