Tax seminars win IRD place in finals

MEDIA RELEASE FROM BIZZONE

Tax seminars win IRD place in finals

Tax seminars run for small businesses have won Inland Revenue a place in the finals of the Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards.

Inland Revenue is up against carboNZero programme, EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) and Statistics New Zealand in the BDO Government Local & National awards’ category.

The Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards are held annually to celebrate the best on offer to business in New Zealand. The awards are the brainchild of Sarah Trotman and are sponsored by Vero and BDO, and are a key event leading up to the annual Bizzone Business Expo, New Zealand's largest event for business. The winners will be announced at a Black Tie Gala Dinner in the Auckland Town Hall on 20 May.

Inland Revenue tax seminars and workshops for people working in small businesses were developed and implemented by Inland Revenue’s Community Relationships business unit to help customers comply with revenue laws but also as an opportunity to network with like business people.

The seminars focus on education, reduced compliance costs, awareness of obligations, a full understanding of Inland Revenue products and service and encourage using Inland Revenue’s online services to enable ownership.

By providing educational seminars targeted at people starting new businesses the Inland Revenue found more voluntary compliance because of the establishment of good business practices and consequently more awareness of their tax obligations.

“Inland Revenue aims to be responsive to the changing and increasing expectations of government and the community. We want to make it easy for customers to get it right and hard to get it wrong and ensure we’re professional, effective and efficient in all our dealings,” Inland Revenue’s Jacquie Hayes said. “We also want to ensure there is confidence that appropriate action will be taken against customers who do not comply.”

The tax seminars are now being offered throughout New Zealand to all business sectors.

Roger Bell, Chief Executive of Vero Insurance, the Foundation Sponsor of the Vero Excellence in Business Support awards, says, “It is inspiring to see the impressive range of finalists that demonstrate international levels of best practice in their businesses and quality support as a key part of their business. This year there has been a resounding 163 nominations and entries which shows the growing commitment of New Zealand’s business support organisations to excellence.”

The 37 finalists were selected by The New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation which provides an independent and robust evaluation process for the awards’ 10 categories.
“In today’s tight economy businesses need to be excellent to survive, particularly in the support area,” Sarah Trotman says. “We have widened the scope of the awards to include South and North Island categories this year and the high number of entries for the awards speaks volumes about how business support is viewed by organisations today.”

“Excellent business support assists New Zealand businesses to build capability and capacity and in doing so they become more competitive and sustainable,” says Mike Watson, chief executive of the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation.

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