This is a good example of how to question the IRD about undue force.

Dear Office of Hon Simon Watts,

 

Thank you for your reply on behalf of the Minister.

 

David understands that the Minister cannot intervene in or determine an individual tax matter. No request is made for the Minister to direct an assessment, cancel an investigation, or interfere with Inland Revenue’s statutory functions.

 

The purpose of copying the Minister was to place on record a governance concern about Inland Revenue’s compliance safeguards.

 

The issue is whether Inland Revenue has adequate administrative controls to prevent ordinary compliance powers being used rigidly, disproportionately, or in reliance on undisclosed external-agency information, particularly where the individual concerned is already dealing with serious unresolved Police, council, court, firearms, vehicle, and property-related matters.

 

This is not merely a tax-calculation issue. Inland Revenue has confirmed that no assessment, default assessment, GST/PAYE determination, commercial-status finding, or final factual position presently exists. Despite that, escalation has been threatened before the records and COVID-era loss position have been reconstructed.

 

David has therefore asked Inland Revenue’s Complaints Management Service to conduct a senior review and to confirm that no adverse steps will be taken while the complaint and associated OIA / Privacy Act request are addressed.

 

For Ministerial-awareness purposes, the specific safeguard questions are:

 

1. what protections exist to ensure Inland Revenue compliance action is not influenced by undisclosed Police, council, MPI, Firearms Safety Authority, or other agency information;

2. what safeguards apply before escalation occurs where no assessment or default assessment has been issued;

3. what safeguards apply where a person says the activity may be private, hobby, club-based, non-commercial, or loss-making rather than a taxable business;

4. what safeguards apply where the person is reconstructing records and says filing incomplete returns would risk producing inaccurate or misleading information;

5. what safeguards ensure proportionality and fairness before enforcement pressure is applied.

 

David is not asking the Minister to decide those facts. He is asking that the Minister’s office keep the matter on record as a complaint concerning fairness, proportionality, and administrative safeguards within Inland Revenue.

 

If Inland Revenue does not provide a proper senior response, or if adverse action is taken before the complaint and information request are properly addressed, David reserves the right to refer the matter to the Ombudsman.

 

Yours faithfully,