Sawyer, A.J.2019-12-022019-12-022019Sawyer A (2019). Assessing the Likely Impact of the Tax Working Group on Tax Administration in New Zealand”,. University of Exeter, UK: Tax Administration Research Centre (TARC) Annual Conference. 11/04/2019-12/04/2019.http://hdl.handle.net/10092/17743With the establishment of the New Zealand (NZ) government’s Tax Working Group (TWG) in late 2017, the level of interest in the TWG’s deliberations, the extent of submissions received, and subsequent recommendations, is arguably unprecedented in NZ tax history. While its Terms of Reference significantly constrained the scope of the review, the major feature is the development of a possible capital gains tax (CGT) for NZ. A CGT in itself will create significant administration issues, dependent principally on the choice of CGT that is eventually implemented (assuming this actually occurs). The TWG also made important recommendations directly affecting tax administration, including tax collection, establishing a taxpayer advocate service and providing additional support for the Office of the Ombudsman. This paper examines the TWG’s deliberations and reports, including making the observation that yet again the proposals for reform are politically charged. A proposal for the establishment of an independent ‘permanent’ body in Canada is recommended for further exploration in NZ, being a superior method for undertaking tax reviews.enConference Contributions - Other2019-05-08Fields of Research::38 - Economics::3801 - Applied economics::380115 - Public economics - taxation and revenue