Dusk Chorus: 'Cost of Living' payments hammered
Auditor General accused Govt of prioritising speed over accuracy with widespread payment and says unacceptable that IRD doesn't know how many overseas got it sent it wrongly
TLDR: It turns out helicopter payments are hard when you don’t have a helicopter, let alone have one you’ve flown before. The Auditor General accused the Government of doing a bad job distributing the first cost of living payment of $116. So the Government is making tweaks for the second one due next week. The Opposition was cock-a-hoop.
Elsewhere, Britain is set to label China as threatening as Russia, America’s ships sailed through the contested Taiwan Strait for the first time since Nancy Pelosi angered Beijing by visiting Taiwan. And in case you’re too relaxed, Ukraine is handing out iodine tablets to those living near the Zaporizhzhia1
In Aotearoa’s political economy, business, finance & markets today
Just checking… - Revenue Minister David Parker announced IRD would do extra checks for eligibility for the second of three ‘Cost of Living’ payments of $116 due on September 1 to reduce the number of people living overseas permanently who received it automatically. Those checks would include whether the recipient had:
made a non-resident individual income tax return (IR3NR) for the 2021-22 tax year;
made a part-year tax return for the 2021-22 tax year, with situation “departing New Zealand”; and/or,
was a student loan borrower with overseas-based borrower status and a Student Loan balance of greater than $20.
IRD would then check these people were:
receiving employment income in the last two months;
were registered as a principal caregiver or partner for Working for Families tax credits; and
were logging on to myIR with a New Zealand IP address (excluding VPN).
‘Perfect the enemy of the good’ - PM Jacinda Ardern defended the first payment in August being made to overseas residents and some deceased people.
“When you're working on a payment that goes or is expected to go to roughly 2.1 million eligible New Zealanders. There is no way to design a system that will be absolutely perfect. But we prioritized in these tough times getting a payment to the New Zealanders who need it the most and we stand by that. We’ll continue to do everything we can to make improvements as we go.” PM Ardern speaking at the post-cabinet news conference this afternoon.
AG report critical - The announcement came as Auditor-General John Ryan released a letter to IRD and a response to National Finance Spokeswoman Nicola Willis this afternoon that was critical of the way the payments were made, saying that “speed and expediency were prioritised over certainty and accuracy.” See quote of the day below.
‘Show some respect’ - Willis said the Auditor General’s report had forced the Government’s tweaks.
“It’s shocking that it took a stern word from the Auditor-General for the Government to take taxpayers’ money seriously. Labour has a complete and utter disregard for taxpayer money. Kiwis deserve a government that treats public money with respect and don’t need a public slap-down to do so.” Nicola Willis in a statement this afternoon.
Just briefly:
Te Whatu Ora chair Rob Campbell defended holding board meetings in private, saying on RNZ the work is more important to us than providing occupational therapy for journalists
AA Insurance reported car theft up 36.5% nationwide and up 43% in Auckland.
In geo-politics, the global economy, business and markets today
‘Here take these’ - Ukraine started issuing iodine tablets to residents after fresh Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Reuters
Just what we need… Likely British PM Liz Truss is expected to label China as the same “acute threat” as Russia after she becomes, the Times-$$$ reported this afternoon.
Just briefly:
US warships transit Taiwan Strait for first time since Pelosi visit Reuters
Number of the day
Good for exporters, but bad for inflation
61 USc - The NZ dollar fell 1.4 USc to a two-year low of 61.03 USc this afternoon in the wake of the Fed’s hawkish comments over the weekend, which would make the US dollar relatively more attractive than the NZ dollar for those looking for the best cash returns from interest rates.
Quote of the day
‘Not perfect or good’
“I am concerned that the Government does not know how significant the scale of payments to ineligible people is. The Minister of Revenue has been quoted by media as saying that it could be around 1% of payments. Inland Revenue told my staff that it is doing some work to improve the accuracy of future payments, but does not know, and may never know, how many ineligible people might have received the payment. This is, in my view, unacceptable.” Auditor General John Ryan in a letter to IRD and Nicola Willis.
Map of the day
Profundities, curiosities, quirkies and feel-goods
The Craic
Good night
Bernard
Yes! I spelt it right without doing a copy and paste. You’ve got to find pleasure somewhere.
The same priorities of speed over accuracy was done with the covid wage subsidy. Didn't hear National criticism about those who took it and had record profits.
IRD, like all govt departments, is underesourced and underfunded. To get accuracy you'll need time for a highly accurate software OR a lot of down to the details manual labour. The detailed check will be at the expense of something else.
Could there have been better solutions for the cost of living? Sure. But I find it cynical seeing that as a whole this country is allergic to fair taxes.
"Profundities and feel goods" probably shouldn't go right above "1000 Pakistanis dead" 😬