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Tax Administration Act 1994

Binding rulings - Short-process rulings

91EL: Applying for short-process ruling

You could also call this:

"How to apply for a quick tax ruling if you earn $20 million or less"

Illustration for Tax Administration Act 1994

You can apply for a short-process ruling if you meet certain requirements. You must have an annual gross income of $20,000,000 or less. You are also seeking a ruling on a matter concerning a tax that is expected to amount to less than $1,000,000. You can apply on your own or with others, or even on behalf of a person who is yet to come into legal existence. The Commissioner will consider your application and may grant a short-process ruling. You can find more information on the requirements in section 91EO. If you do not know the expected amount of the tax, you must state this in your application. The Commissioner may then consider under section 91EK(2) whether a short-process ruling is appropriate. You can withdraw your application at any time by notifying the Commissioner. The amounts specified in the requirements may be changed by the Governor-General from time to time. An order to change these amounts is secondary legislation, which has its own publication requirements, as outlined in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. This means the changes will be officially published and made available to the public.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS262522.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
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Part 5ABinding rulings
Short-process rulings

91ELApplying for short-process ruling

  1. A person who meets the requirements of subsection (3) may apply, in their own right or on behalf of a person who is yet to come into legal existence, to the Commissioner for a short-process ruling on how a taxation law applies, or would apply, to the person in relation to a particular set of circumstances and a tax type to which the circumstances relate.

  2. Two or more persons may apply jointly for a short-process ruling under subsection (1).

  3. The requirements are—

  4. the person’s annual gross income for the tax year before that in which the application is made is $20,000,000 or less; and
    1. the person is seeking the ruling on a matter concerning a tax (other than provisional tax), duty, or levy that is expected to amount to less than $1,000,000.

      1. For the purposes of subsection (3)(a),—

      2. if the person applying is part of a group of companies, the group must meet the threshold requirement:
        1. if persons apply jointly for a short-process ruling, each person must meet the threshold requirement:
          1. if a person applies for a short-process ruling on behalf of another person, the other person must meet the threshold requirement:
            1. if the person applying is not yet in legal existence, the person must have a reasonable expectation of meeting the threshold requirement for the tax year to which the ruling relates.

              1. For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), if the expected amount is unknown, the person must state this fact in the application, and the Commissioner may then consider under section 91EK(2) whether a short-process ruling is appropriate in the circumstances.

              2. The application must meet the requirements of section 91EO.

              3. The person may withdraw the application at any time by notifying the Commissioner.

              4. The amounts specified in subsection (3)(a) and (b) may be varied from time to time by the Governor-General by Order in Council.

              5. An order under subsection (8) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

              Notes
              • Section 91EL: inserted, on , by section 63 of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2018–19, Modernising Tax Administration, and Remedial Matters) Act 2019 (2019 No 5).
              • Section 91EL(9): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).