IRD Commissioner Graham Holland has just spoken to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee saying he will be
seeking advice from the Solicitor General on further prosecution of the "Magnum Transaction", at the centre of the
Winebox inquiry.
Under intense questioning from Winston Peters before the committee Mr Holland said that with the Davison Winebox
findings saying there was no tax avoidance in the transaction the IRD had been unable to pursue prosecution till now.
The IRD had always been of the opinion that Magnum was an example of tax avoidance, and following Friday's virtual
overturning of the Davison report he had approached the Solicitor General John McGrath.
He said there were some practical issues in that European Pacific no longer existed, however that did not totally rule
out pursuing others.
Mr Holland told the committee that $2 million is at stake in the case. He was of the opinion that recovery would cost
less than this.
Mr Holland was appearing before the committee to present IRD's response to submissions made to the inquiry into powers
and operations of the IRD.
In his opening statement he conceded that mistakes had been made and that the IRD not handled some situations, "as well
as we would have hoped".
He then outlined to the committee reviews and improvements underway in the department particularly in the area of
disputes procedures and complaints management.