Illegal penalties
Hemant made this Official Information request to Inland Revenue Department
The request was partially successful.
From: Hemant
Dear Inland Revenue Department,
Its my understanding that either FIRST (or a system relating to FIRST) has started issuing penalties to employers for when it guesses there should be a payday filing even if the employer has not paid anyone on that day. I think this is to do with employers that run multiple pay cycles for different employees.
Question: How many penalties have you issued for employers not filing employment information on time, where the employer has not paid anyone on the date that they are receiving the penalty for.
Yours faithfully,
Hemant
From: oia
Inland Revenue Department
[EXTERNAL IN-CONFIDENCE]
Dear Hemant
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982, received on 19 March 2026.
We will reply within the statutory 20 working days, by 20 April 2026.
Your reference number is 26OIA2102.
Kind Regards,
Ministerial Services | Inland Revenue - Te Tari Taake
show quoted sections
From: Oliver Twissell
Inland Revenue Department
[EXTERNAL IN-CONFIDENCE]
Kia ora Hemant,
Please find attached Inland Revenue’s response to your request under the
Official Information Act 1982 received on 19 March 2026.
Kind regards,
Oliver
Ministerial Services | Inland Revenue - Te Tari Taake
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From: Hemant
Dear Oliver Twissell,
Based on your reply, can you clarify that if an IRD employee has said they will not reverse the penalties in future in situations where it has been proved that they was no payrun in that period, that would be against policy? If so, what is the process for having the employee educated on the correct way to do things?
Yours sincerely,
Hemant
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