Professor John Prebble’s Guiding Hand in New Zealand’s Advance (Binding) Rulings Regime

Abstract

At first glance, one could be excused for concluding that New Zealand's advance (binding) rulings regime can be traced to a Government budget announcement in 1992. In reality, the early efforts of Professor John Prebble in the mid-1980s laid the groundwork that eventually resulted in a binding rulings regime commencing in 1995. John's contributions not only provided input from reviewing comparative jurisdictions, but also a draft code. Furthermore, post-regime, John was instrumental in endorsing the regime through his membership of the Committee of Experts on Tax Compliance (the Committee). Beyond this, further refinements to the regime (including more cost-efficient and accessible short process rulings) to a large degree reflect John's early observations. That is, businesses need certainty when making decisions that affect their tax obligations imposed by complex legislation and they should have access to a facility that can enhance that certainty.