Taxation (Tax Administration and Remedial Matters) Bill

I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I have just been informed that we are not casting their vote, so I am not voting.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): Can the member be clear: is that for the Mana party or the Green Party?

The Mana party.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): We have had a number of votes for the Mana party. Are all the other votes in order?

No, they are not. Could you just delete those votes. I have just been informed we are not voting for Mana at this time.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): So all those votes that were given for Mana previously are to be deleted?

Thank you, yes.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): The member has to seek leave for that to happen.

I seek leave for the votes posted for the Mana Party to be removed. We are not voting on its behalf at this time.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is none.

I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I just make a query, as this is a matter for the Committee. You have put amendments to clause 2, have you not? So my only query is whether we have actually commenced voting on clause 2.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): We actually did vote on the Minister’s amendments as amended to clause 2 set out on Supplementary Order Paper 254, so because we have already voted on the amendments it means we are, unfortunately, unable to go back to clause 2. We have already voted on the amendments.

I raise a point of order, Mr Chairperson. I felt that you had sought the assistance of the Committee to deal with what is a difficult situation. I listened very carefully to the Chair, and clause 2 was not called. If clauses 1 and 2 had both been called, I would have taken the call then. In fact, I leaned over to the junior Opposition whip and I asked when clause 2 would be called. I really felt that your asking the Committee whether anyone objected to my taking a brief call on clause 2 under these circumstances would be useful. I do not think there is any point in recalling the Speaker back for this if we can resolve it as a Committee.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): I accept what the member says, and I am prepared to ask the Committee to let the member have a call. Is there any objection to that course of action being taken? There is none.

I shall be mercifully brief, as a result of the indulgence of the Committee. I wanted to take a call on clause 2 of the Taxation (Tax Administration and Remedial Matters) Bill because it is, of course, the commencement clause. There are several commencement dates. They traverse all the different elements of this particular bill.

The reason why I wanted to raise this clause in the Committee of the whole House is there is a significant discussion in the regulatory impact statement about the trust law concerns that arise from this change to the law. This is the issue that I think is particularly relevant to the commencement dates that have been chosen. “The Law Commission is currently undertaking a review of trust law in New Zealand and is expected to release an issues paper shortly. Officials have met with the Law Commission to discuss concerns and will continue to follow the Commission’s progress. The review will broadly consider the various uses of trusts where legal ownership of property is transferred to a trust but control and enjoyment of that property is retained. New forms of regulation such as a central trust register and the compulsory filing of annual trust accounts are among the ideas that have been raised for reform. Such reforms would help deal with information concerns that may arise as a result of the repeal of gift duty. The Law Commission’s work is ongoing and may continue for some time.”

The point I wanted to make is that given that work is being undertaken to address a number of the concerns we have raised about the exposure the Government allows by abolishing the gift duty, for it to do so prior to the completion of this work and the work of a number of departments is, I think, more than unfortunate.

The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): Thank you for that, and thank you for the Committee’s indulgence.