New Zealand is making efforts to attract greater numbers of foreign investors to the local managed funds industry, through changes to the tax treatment of non-resident investing in New Zealand Portfolio Managed Entities. In February 2010 the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key set a future goal for the country to become a significant exporter of high-value middle- and back-office services for international fund management companies. The aim was supported by the government established Capital Market Development Taskforce, which claimed that New ... Read More

Today new changes to the New Zealand tax system will come into effect, which the government believes will “rebalance” the economy towards higher levels of savings and economic growth. As outlined in the last New Zealand budget, released in May 2010, on April 1st 2011 the country will see several changes to its tax system. Among other changes, the most significant is a 2 percent cut to the corporate tax rate, bringing it to a level of 28 percent. The New Zealand Finance ... Read More

The New Zealand Treasury has reported that the country’s tax revenue figure for the last quarter is 6.3 percent below forecast, primarily due to low corporate profits and subdued consumer spending. On December 6th the New Zealand Treasury released the Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the four month ending October 31st 2010. The documents show that during the time period New Zealand’s tax revenues were NZD 1.1 billion (approx. USD 840 million) below official forecasts, representing a 6.3 percent ... Read More

New Zealand’s national tax revenues are below projections, being reported at 8.2 percent below the government forecasts. The New Zealand Government released its latest financial statements on November 8th, indicating that tax revenues for the three months ended September 30th 2010 were NZD 1.12 billion (approx. USD 889.84 million) below projections. According to the release, both the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and the corporate tax were below expectations, suggesting a slowing in the pace of the country’s economic recovery. According to the financial ... Read More

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published a new paper on the potential effect of further fiscal policy changes in the future growth of the New Zealand economy. On May 26th the IMF published The Potential Contribution of Fiscal Policy to Rebalancing and Growth in New Zealand, a working paper dealing with possible New Zealand fiscal policy rebalancing. The paper stated that New Zealand has weathered the global economic recession relatively well, but will continue to suffer from persistent current account deficits. New ... Read More