- Relationships Bill Passed
- Tax Incentives for Migrating Companies to End
- NZ's Standards and Conformance Infrastructure: Review
Legislation Notes
Relationships Bill Passed
This Bill, which amended relevant Acts and regulations to provide the same legal rights and responsibilities to married, de facto and civil union couples, incorporated several changes concerning references to de facto relationships that were recommended by Parliament's Justice & Electoral Committee. "De facto" is now defined as two people who live together in a relationship in the nature of marriage, are not married to, or in a civil union with, each other, and are both over 16. Also replaced was a list of criteria for such a relationship, with a new simple requirement that the court or the person must have regard to "the context or purpose of the law in which the question is to be determined, and all the purposes of the relationship".
The select committee also removed references to de facto relationships in some categories of the law, and made changes covering protection of the language associated with marriage. The Law Commission is being asked to report on matters such next of kin and other domestic relationships, and do further work on the law related to de facto couples.
Thanks to "LawScene"
Tax Incentives for Migrating Companies to End
The government will legislate to ensure companies pay NZ tax on income earned before they migrate from NZ. Under present law, they can leave without having necessarily paid tax on all the income they earned while resident here.
The proposed change would put migrating companies on a par with liquidating companies. When they migrate, companies would be deemed to have been liquidated at that point and to have paid a dividend to shareholders, upon which they must withhold tax. Companies would be allowed to attach imputation credits to these deemed dividends, and - to prevent double taxation - the amount of the distribution would be treated as an additional amount of tax-paid share capital that can be returned to shareholders.
The change will be included in the next taxation bill to be introduced into Parliament and, once enacted, would be effective from 22 March.
Details of the proposed change are available in a special report, "Proposed Tax rules for Migrating Companies", published at www.ird.govt.nz
NZ's Standards and Conformance Infrastructure: Review
The Ministry of Economic Development has commissioned a review of NZ's standards and conformance infrastructure as it begins work on a Standards and Conformance Bill. The legislation will make a number of amendments to the Standards Act 1988 and the Testing Laboratory Registration Act 1972. The review is expected to be completed by mid-year.
The catalysts for the review have been:
- problems with leaky buildings;
- whether the various compliance agencies are adequately funded to properly meet their responsibilities;
- the drive for innovation, trade liberalisation and rapidly changing technology and international regulatory practices, all of which can create a demand for new standards and conformity assessment requirements; and
- NZ's increasing dependence on international trade.
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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