Gift duty leaves the law books today

The burden of gift duty that cost New Zealanders $70 million a year to comply with for a tax haul of only about a million dollars annually was today lifted off New Zealanders’ shoulders.

‘The law removing it was passed in August and came into effect today, and is something I am delighted to have brought about under my watch,” Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.

‘Gift duty had long since stopped serving a meaningful purpose and had become an antiquated and bureaucratic imposition on people and businesses,” Mr Dunne said.

He said the change also symbolised how New Zealand was moving towards a more efficient, lower compliance tax regime.

“Gift duty has continued to impose $70 million of compliance costs on New Zealanders each year, while no longer serving its intended purpose.

“As I have said before, it is a relic of the estate duty era, long since passed, and it has been overtaken by other developments rendering it obsolete.

“It has been a common sense move in the end,” Mr Dunne said.