Comparative Tax Policy Approaches in New Zealand and Australia: Instructional Guidance for Hong Kong?

Type of content
Conference Contributions - Published
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Department of Accounting and Information Systems
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2015
Authors
Sawyer, A.J.
Abstract

Tax policy development in Australia and New Zealand has the hallmarks of consultation and input from various organizations outside of the government. Both countries operate as democracies, although Australia’s parliamentary system is more complex through the operation of both the Lower House and the Senate, and multiple layers of government that comes with a federal system. New Zealand has a unicameral House of Representatives, which facilitates the policy development process, notwithstanding operating under a Mixed Member Proportional system. In comparative terms, New Zealand’s tax policy process is more structured and transparent, highlighted by the Generic Tax Policy Process. Australia’s federal tax policy process operates with less cooperation between the Australian Treasury and the Australian Tax Office, compared to the New Zealand Treasury and Inland Revenue. In contrast, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) operates under the provisions of the Basic Law, with Articles 107 and 108 providing guidance with respect to tax policy development. This paper seeks to offer insights from Australia and New Zealand that could potentially inform the debate in the HKSAR over tax reform, especially with the HKSAR’s long term revenue planning, and recent proposals for more enhanced tax policy development.

Description
Keynote Presentation
Citation
Sawyer, A.J. (2015) Comparative Tax Policy Approaches in New Zealand and Australia: Instructional Guidance for Hong Kong?. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Fourth International Conference of the Taxation Law Research Programme (TLRP), 31 Oct 2015. 27pp.
Keywords
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3501 - Accounting, auditing and accountability::350108 - Taxation accounting
Fields of Research::48 - Law and legal studies::4801 - Commercial law::480106 - Taxation law
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