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Tax Administration Act 1994

Information, record-keeping, and returns - Commissioner’s powers to obtain information - Collection of information

17E: Information or documents treated as in persons’ knowledge, possession, or control

You could also call this:

"What information or documents are considered yours for tax purposes?"

Illustration for Tax Administration Act 1994

When it comes to collecting information for tax purposes, you need to know what information or documents are considered to be in your knowledge, possession, or control. If you are a New Zealand resident and you control a non-resident, information or documents that the non-resident has are treated as being in your knowledge, possession, or control. This means that if you have control over someone who is not a New Zealand resident, the information they have is considered to be yours for tax purposes. If you are part of a large multinational group, information or documents that are relevant to the taxation of the group and are in the knowledge, possession, or control of any member of the group are treated as being in your knowledge, possession, or control. Laws of foreign countries that relate to keeping information secret are ignored for the purposes of New Zealand tax laws. This applies to certain sections of the Tax Administration Act 1994, including 17B(1), 17GB(1), 143(2), 143A(2), and 139AB.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS181081.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
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"Entering homes or taking documents with a special permit called a warrant"

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Part 3Information, record-keeping, and returns
Commissioner’s powers to obtain information: Collection of information

17EInformation or documents treated as in persons’ knowledge, possession, or control

  1. For the purposes of sections 17B(1), 17GB(1), 143(2), and 143A(2), information or a document that is in the knowledge, possession, or control of a non-resident is treated as being in the knowledge, possession, or control of a New Zealand resident if the New Zealand resident controls, directly or indirectly, the non-resident. For this purpose,—

  2. a New Zealand resident is treated as holding anything held by a person who—
    1. is resident in New Zealand and is associated with the New Zealand resident:
      1. is a controlled foreign company and is associated with the New Zealand resident:
      2. a law of a foreign country that relates to the secrecy of information is ignored.

        1. For the purposes of sections 17B(1), 17GB(1), and 139AB, information or a document is treated as being in the knowledge, possession, or control of a member of a large multinational group in an income year, disregarding any law of a foreign country relating to the secrecy of information, if the information or document is relevant to the taxation of the large multinational group and is in the knowledge, possession, or control of the member or another member of the large multinational group.

        Notes
        • Section 17E: inserted, on , by section 10 of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2018–19, Modernising Tax Administration, and Remedial Matters) Act 2019 (2019 No 5).
        • Section 17E(1): amended (with effect on 7 December 2020), on , by section 148(1) of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020–21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Act 2021 (2021 No 8).
        • Section 17E(2): amended (with effect on 7 December 2020), on , by section 148(2) of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020–21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Act 2021 (2021 No 8).
        • Section 17E(2): amended (with effect on 18 March 2019), on , by section 91 of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2019–20, GST Offshore Supplier Registration, and Remedial Matters) Act 2019 (2019 No 33).