Introduced on Oct 25, the bill amends the Income Tax Act and the Tax Administration Act to introduce a research and development tax credit. To be eligible for a tax credit, an eligible person must spend at least $50,000 on research and development in a year. The maximum amount of expenditure eligible is $120m, unless previously approved. The tax credit is equal to 15% of eligible expenditure. Completed reading on Nov 1 and sent to the Finance and Expenditure Committee with an April 1, 2019 report back. Only ACT opposed the Bill, but National indicated its support was conditional and only to select committee.Sent to the Finance and Expenditure Committee. Reported back on April 3 with a large number of changes around eligibility, definitions and procedures including lifting the internal software development cap from $3m to $25m. Second reading completed on April 11 with National opposed on design and cost. Committee stage completed on April 30 with govt introducing some technical changes. Third reading completed on May 2 with National remaining opposed.  Taxation (Research and Development Tax Credits) Bill

Introduced on Nov 16 the bill proposes a new residential land withholding tax to act as a collection mechanism for the bright-line test. It also provides for the sharing of information between IRD and the Australian Taxation Office in relation to NZ student loan borrowers residing in Australia. It also proposes the collection of GST on cross-border services and intangibles, including internet downloads and online services. The wider issue of the collection of GST on small value imports has been pushed back into a discussion document next year. Only NZ First voted against the bill at its first reading on December 8, mainly because the GST collection provisions did not go far enough. Labour MPs also expressed support for wider GST collection on imports and doubts around the effectiveness of the bright line provisions. Referred to the Finance and Expenditure committee with submissions closing on January 26. Select committee reported back on March 21. Changes have been made around the administration of the withholding tax, including a new definition of an “offshore person”. Many submissions focussed around difficulties in the new tax and potential unintended consequences. The bill completed its second reading debate on March 31 with just NZ First opposed. Committee stage completed on April 12 with no further amendments. Third reading debate interrupted on May 3 and completed on May 10 by 109 to 12 with NZ First opposed. Taxation (Residential Land Withholding Tax, GST on Online Services, and Student Loans) Bill

Introduced on June 30. The bill intends to make the tax system simpler. Amongst other things it lifts the automatic refund threshold, rewrites law to allow IRD to communicate in other ways than in writing or by post, simplifies the tax rules for employee share schemes from 1 July this year allows pooling method of depreciation to include assets valued up to $5,000 up from $2,000. Received its first reading on October 13 and with the support of all parties was sent to the Finance and Expenditure Committee for consideration. Reported back on March 21 with minor amendments. Second reading debate interrupted on March 31 and completed on April 12 on a voice vote. Committee stage interrupted on May 10 and completed on May 24. Third reading completed on May 30 by a voice vote. Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill

Introduced on Dec 19 under Urgency. The bill repeals the Taxation Principles Reporting Act passed in 2023.

Taxation Principles Reporting Act Repeal Bill

Introduced on May 18. The bill proposes a statutory framework for the reporting of tax information based on core taxation principles, intended to increase the availability of information about the operation of the tax system and contribute to an improved understanding of tax policy. First reading on May 18 with National and Act opposed. Referred to the finance and expenditure committee to be reported back by July 20. Reported back on July 27 with minor changes.  Second reading completed on Aug 15 with all parties in favour, but National and Act later recording their opposition in parliamentary journal. Remaining stages completed on Aug 22 with National and Act opposed.

Taxation Principles Reporting Bill

Introduced on Sept 28, the bill creates an annual public holiday to acknowledge Matariki and sets the dates for the holiday from 2022 to 2052, and provides for future dates. First reading on Sept 30, opposed by National and ACT. Referred to the Māori Affairs Committee. Reported back on March March 4 with minor amendments. Second reading on March 29, committee stage March 30 and third reading on April 7 with National and Act opposed.  Te Pire mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki/Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Bill

Omnibus Bill introduced on Sept 19 making many technical changes to Māori land law and Māori Land Court including a new dispute resolution mechanism for matters under the jurisdiction of the Court. First reading on Oct 15 with all parties in agreement and sent to the Māori Affairs Committee. Reported back on May 1 with a large number of changes including around the role and powers of the Māori Land Court. Second reading on June 24 with National supporting but seeking changes in the committee sage in a number of areas including around the treatment of landlocked property. Committee stage and third reading completed under Urgency on July 22. National did not get the changes it wanted but all parties still supported the Bill.  Te Ture Whenua Maori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Bill

A bill reforming Maori land law introduced on April 14, 2016  and already facing fierce opposition after consultation on the draft. It attempts a policy shift to support land utilisation as determined by the owners themselves. This is done by providing a new framework within which owners of Māori land can determine flexible governance arrangements for their land. It included baseline thresholds for certain decisions, and new dispute resolution procedures. It also attempts to address difficulties in gaining mortgages over jointly owned Maori land. First reading on May 11 was strongly opposed by Labour, Greens and NZ First who argued the bill should be withdrawn and a “flawed” consultation process restarted. They said many Maori feared the bill would see Maori lose ownership of land. The bill completed its first reading by 63 to 58 with National, Maori Party, ACT and United Future in favour. It was sent to the Maori Affairs Committee for consideration. The committee has extended the closing date for public submissions from June 23 to July 14 and a number of other times until November 25. Reported back on November 25 with extensive changes. Even Govt MPs on the select committee expressed some disquiet about the unknown outcomes of  the bill including moving some functions of the Maori Land Court to a new Maori Land Service, as well as the complexity of the Bill. Changes include and extended implementation phase to explain the changes to stakeholders and create the new land service. Opposition parties remained unconvinced by the changes and said it went too far in tipping the balance away from protection of ownership rights and in favour of economic development. Awaiting second reading. Second reading completed on December 13 with Opposition parties still against the Bill and the Government remaining firm. The Bill has been put on the backburner while the Government worked on amendments in response to criticism. Amongst the changes announced to be made during the committee stage include include amendments to the Public Works Act, rating of Maori land and the Family Protection Act. The changes to the Public Works Act will require authorities to have a strong justification to acquire Maori land, and where possible the amount of land taken and the interest in the land should be minimised. The changes to rating will provide for papakainga housing on marae to be non-rateable for up to two dwellings. The Bill will now restore the Maori Land Court’s jurisdiction under the Family Protection Act when claims relate to estates with interests in Maori freehold land. Committee stage began and was interrupted on May 3 with MPs only part way into the long bill and indicating it would take a long time to complete with Opposition MPs contesting many parts of the Bill. Committee stage debate continued on May 30, May 31 and June 21 with MPs making slow progress.  The Committee stage debate continued on July 4 and 5 with MPs still on part 6 of the Bill, which has 16 parts plus schedules. The Maori Party has conceded there won’t be time to pass the Bill before the election after it turned down an offer from National to use the Govt’s numbers to push it through under Urgency. The new Government announced on Dec 22, 2017 it would not be be proceeding with the Bill and it would be discharged  Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill 

Member’s bill in the name of National MP Joseph Mooney introduced on Sept 23. It proposes to repeal and replace the current law relating to Māori land, in line with proposals put forward by the last National government. Voted down on June 8 with just National and Act in favour. Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill

Introduced and passed through all stages following the May 21 Budget. The bill extends a development levy applied to the telecommunications industry, for the Government’s policy of extending the Rural Broadband Initiative and establishing a Mobile Black Spots Fund. To achieve that, this Bill resets the telecommunications development levy amounts prescribed in the Telecommunications Act 2001 for 2016/17 and beyond. All parties but Labour supported the bill with its MPs arguing it was a tax which would increase costs to consumers. Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill