Dr Hon Lockwood Smith MP
National Party Revenue Spokesman

14 September 2007

IRD phone delays a symptom of culture

National Party Revenue spokesman Lockwood Smith says an informal poll published today shows Inland Revenue still has much work to do when it comes to looking after public inquiries.

“Inland Revenue’s taken on hundreds of extra staff in recent years to look after its KiwiSaver and Working For Families responsibilities. I simply won’t accept that those initiatives are now the cause of the problem.”

Dr Smith is commenting on poll published in the New Zealand Herald today which compared how long it took a caller to get through to a real person. Inland Revenue consistently did the worst by a country mile.

“At one point it took a caller 13 minutes to get through to a real person, while most of the other organisations answered their phones within seconds.

“This is a symptom of the wider culture at IRD, which takes such a very casual attitude to things like refunding overpaid tax. The excuses just don’t wash”

ENDS

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