20 January 2010 MEDIA STATEMENT

It’s not helpful for the NZ tax system to lurch one way then another - KPMG

Comment from Paul Dunne, Senior Tax Partner at KPMG in response to the Tax Working Group’s recommendations:

“KPMG does not support raising taxes per se. However, we do support a fair, sustainable and balanced tax system that encourages better investment infrastructure, supports economic growth, and enables competitive advantage in the economy.

“Better investment infrastructure is important because many New Zealanders are investing based on the tax system rather than following good investment practices.

“A tax structure that supports economic growth is vital because New Zealand currently lags behind Australia economically and the Government has stated objectives to pursue and catch up - our tax system therefore needs to support this. An effective tax system will also attract international investments into the country and help retain New Zealand’s skilled workforce.

“A tax structure that enables competitive advantage is vital if we are to be internationally competitive, catch up with Australia and attract highly skilled expatriate New Zealanders from overseas.

“Any Government response needs to be politically and economically sustainable in the medium term. The challenge for the Government will be implementing a system that will be stable medium-term and not changed and tweaked often.”
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Media enquiries: Please contact Sneha Paul on 021 243 8997 or 09 363 3590 or email snehapaul@kpmg.co.nz
Notes to Editors: KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 144 countries and have 140,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

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