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Commodity Levies Act 1990

Miscellaneous provisions

17: Power of auditors to require production of records

You could also call this:

"Auditors can ask to see your records to check you're following the rules, and you must show them."

Illustration for Commodity Levies Act 1990

When an auditor is checking if people are following the Commodity Levies Act, they can ask you to show them certain records. You have to show these records within a reasonable time. The auditor can make copies of these records if they need to. The auditor has to be authorised in writing by a Minister to do this. This authorisation must say what the auditor's powers are and who the auditor is. If you are an auditor, you cannot tell anyone else what you found out, except if it is for a court case or to get money that is owed, or if you are telling a Minister or someone a Minister says you can tell, but there is an exception if the Official Information Act 1982 applies.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM227345.

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Business > Industry rulesMoney and consumer rights > Taxes
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16: Purpose of compliance audits, or

"Checking people pay the right amount of levy and keep correct records"

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18: Assessment of performance of industry organisations, or

"Checking if industry organisations are doing a good job with levy money"

Part 2Miscellaneous provisions

17Power of auditors to require production of records

  1. For the purposes of conducting an audit, any auditor specifically or generally authorised in writing in that behalf by a Minister may from time to time require any person (being an industry organisation, a person collecting levies, a person who is or may be liable to pay levies, or any employee or officer of an industry organisation or any such person) to produce for inspection within a reasonable period specified by the auditor any records or accounts in the possession or under the control of that person (being records or accounts that are required to be kept under this Act or by a levy order), and may take copies of or extracts from any such document.

  2. Every authorisation under subsection (1) shall contain—

  3. a reference to this section; and
    1. the full name of the auditor; and
      1. a statement of the powers conferred on the auditor by subsection (1).

        1. Subject to section 16(2), except in respect of a prosecution under this Act or an action for the recovery of any amount due under this Act, no auditor who exercises powers under this section shall disclose to any other person (other than a Minister or a person authorised in that behalf by a Minister) any information obtained by the auditor as a result of the exercise of the power.

        2. Notwithstanding subsection (3), the Official Information Act 1982 applies in respect of any information held by a Minister that was obtained pursuant to this section.