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Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

General provisions

78D: Liability to pay past tax, etc, not affected by alteration in the law

You could also call this:

"Changing the law doesn't cancel old taxes or fines you owed before the change"

Illustration for Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

If a law is changed, you might wonder if it affects what happened before the change. The law says that if you owed tax or a fine before the change, you still owe it. The government can still collect the tax or fine, even if the law has changed.

If you did something wrong before the law changed, you can still be charged with an offence. The government can still take action against you, even if the law is different now. This means that changing the law does not erase what happened before the change.

You can find more information about the change to this law in section 23 of the Finance Act 1989. This change was made on 23 March 1989. It affects how the law is applied to things that happened before the change.

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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=DLM85537.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
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78C: Change in accounting basis coinciding with or occurring after change in rate of tax, or

"Changing your tax accounting when tax rates change"

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78E: Alteration of agreed price in relation to supply mistakenly believed to be of a going concern, or

"Changing the price if a business sale is not a going concern as thought"

Part 11General provisions

78DLiability to pay past tax, etc, not affected by alteration in the law

  1. Except as otherwise expressly provided in any enactment, the repeal or amendment of any provision of this Act shall not affect any liability or right of any person or of the Crown that existed under that provision immediately before its repeal or amendment, and in particular,—

  2. any liability to tax, or to any fine or penalty, of any person pursuant to the repealed or amended provision, and the right of the Crown to any revenue, tax, fee, fine, or penalty pursuant to the repealed or amended provision, shall not be affected by the repeal or amendment; and
    1. all acts and proceedings for the assessment or recovery of any revenue, tax, fine, or penalty assessed or assessable or paid or payable pursuant to the repealed or amended provision, and all proceedings in respect of offences committed or alleged to be committed in respect of the repealed or amended provision, may be instituted or continued as if the provision had not been repealed or amended.

      Notes
      • Section 78D: inserted, on , by section 23 of the Finance Act 1989 (1989 No 13).