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  EASE EXTERNAL]






18 October 2023

Noah Fitzgerald
[FYI request #24302 email]

Dear Noah Fitzgerald

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA),
received on 2 October 2023. You requested the following:
Could you please provide me the number of individuals under 18 (at the time
of return) who have had income tax returns reviewed/audited - broken down
by year, age and region please.
On  3 October  2023,  you  clarified  your request  to  confirm you are seeking the
above information for the past 5 years (ended 31 March 2019-2023).
As background, Inland Revenue’s approach to compliance is multi-layered and
based on our commitment to making it as easy as possible for customers to get it
right from the start, and hard for them to get it wrong.
As all income tax returns are reviewed when they are processed, I have
interpreted your request to be for returns filed by people under 18 that resulted
in audit action. Over the time period requested, less than 10 individuals under the
age of 18 have had income tax returns audited.
I have decided to refuse to provide the breakdown of this information by year,
age and region under section 18(c)(i) of the OIA, as the disclosure of this
information would be contrary to the provisions of a specified enactment, namely
Inland Revenue’s confidentiality obligations  under section 18 of the Tax
Administration Act 1994 (TAA). Disclosure of this information does not fall within
any of the exceptions to the confidentiality obligation listed in section 18D to 18J
of the TAA.
Right of review
If you disagree with my decision  on your OIA request,  you  can ask an Inland
Revenue review officer to review my decision. To ask for an internal review, please
email the Commissioner of Inland Revenue at: CommissionersCorrespondence@
ird.govt.nz.
Alternatively,  under section 28(3) of the OIA,  you have the right to ask  the
Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision. You can contact the office of
the Ombudsman by email at: [email address].
If you choose to have an internal review, you can still ask the Ombudsman for a
review.

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Publishing of OIA response
Please note that Inland Revenue regularly publishes responses to requests that
may be of interest to the wider public on its website. We consider this response is
of public interest so will publish this response in due course. Your personal details
or any information that would identify you will be removed prior to it being
published.

Thank you for your request.

Yours sincerely

Tony Morris
Customer Segment Leader, Customer & Compliance Services - Business

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