New Zealand PM defends country's tax system

Apr 8, 2016 In light of a massive document leak from a Panamanian law firm showing several financial misdeeds via the offshore company structures, New Zealand’s Prime Minister recently moved to defend the country’s tax system.

Opposition Labor Party Leader Andrew Little had accused Prime Minister Key of letting people use the country due to its low tax jurisdiction.

Responding to this, Prime Minister Key said:

“New Zealand is not a tax haven. Tax havens don’t have the disclosure regimes that New Zealand have,” Key answered, later adding that “we’re signatories to 40 double tax agreements and 11 tax information sharing agreements. It’s not like we’re trying to operate in some black hole.”

According to John Nash, international revenue strategy manager for New Zealand’s Inland Revenue, the tax agency is working closely with its tax treaty partners to obtain full details of any New Zealand tax residents who may have been involved in any financial crime.