The Revenue and Finance Minister on 3 March 2017 released three BEPS related consultation papers which address the issue of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). The consultation papers proposed new measures to strengthen New Zealand’s rules for taxing large multinationals.

The consultation documents contain three proposals. Firstly, tackling concerns about multinationals booking profits from their New Zealand sales offshore, even though these sales are driven by New Zealand- based staff. Secondly, prevent multinationals using interest payments to shift profits offshore. And thirdly, implement New Zealand’s entrance into an international convention for aligning our double tax agreements with OECD recommendations.

Submissions on the consultation document on implementing the international convention are open until 7 April. Submissions on the other two are open until 18 April. Ministers will consider final proposals arising from the documents later in the year.