In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

A person may bring proceedings before an Authority—

To the extent that they are not inconsistent with these regulations, or the provisions of the Taxation Review Authorities Act 1994, or the Tax Administration Act 1994, the District Courts Rules 2009 apply to the commencement, interlocutory steps, and conduct of proceedings in the Authority as if those proceedings were civil proceedings in the District Court.

This Part applies to proceedings in the general jurisdiction of an Authority.

The parties to a challenge are the disputant and the Commissioner.

A notice of claim filed in the general jurisdiction must be in a form approved by the chief executive of the Ministry of Justice after consultation with all Authorities.

Variations to the notice of claim may be made if required by the circumstances of the challenge.

A notice of claim must contain,—

The disputant must, within 10 working days of filing the notice of claim, serve a copy on the Commissioner.

A disputant must file 3 copies of a notice of claim with the Registrar of the Authority by—

The disputant must pay a filing fee of $552 to the Registrar at the time of filing a notice of claim.

The fee prescribed in subclause (1) includes goods and services tax; however, for a supply that is zero-rated under the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985, the amount of the prescribed fee is reduced by an amount equal to the tax fraction of the fee under that Act.

The disputant may apply to the Registrar for a waiver of the filing fee payable under regulation 10.

The Registrar may waive the filing fee payable by the disputant if satisfied,—

For the purposes of these regulations, a disputant is unable to pay the filing fee sought to be waived if—

For the purposes of these regulations, a proceeding that concerns a matter of genuine public interest is—

An application under subclause (1) must be made in a form approved for the purpose by the chief executive of the Ministry of Justice unless, in a particular case, the Registrar considers that an application in that form is not necessary.

The Registrar may, on application by a person who is awaiting the determination of an application under regulation 10A(1), postpone the payment of the fee to which the application relates until the date on which the person is notified of the determination.

The Registrar may exercise the power under subclause (1) if satisfied that the person awaiting the determination of his or her application would be prejudiced if the matter to which the fee relates did not proceed before the determination.

An application under subclause (1) must be made in a form approved for the purpose by the chief executive of the Ministry of Justice unless, in a particular case, the Registrar considers that an application in that form is not necessary.

This regulation applies to a fee (the fee) that has been postponed under regulation 10B.

If the effect of a determination under regulation 10A is that the fee is not to be waived, the fee—

Following a determination that has the effect referred to in subclause (2), the person responsible for paying the fee may not take a step in the proceeding to which the fee relates unless the fee is paid.

The Registrar may, on application made to him or her, refund a fee that has already been paid if satisfied that—

An application under subclause (1) must be made in a form approved for the purpose by the chief executive of the Ministry of Justice unless, in a particular case, the Registrar considers that an application in that form is not necessary.

If the Commissioner did not issue a disclosure notice, the Commissioner must file and serve a notice of defence containing such information as the Commissioner would have had to include in the Commissioner’s statement of position, had such a disclosure notice been served.

The notice of defence must be filed and served by the Commissioner within 25 working days of the service of the notice of claim.

A party to a challenge in the general jurisdiction of an Authority may make an interlocutory application at any time before a hearing.

The applicant must file a written application with the Registrar and serve a copy on the other party.

Subclause (3) does not apply to the issue of a notice to admit facts or the issue of a witness summons.

An applicant for an order directing a party to supply further information to the applicant must satisfy the Authority that the order is justified in the circumstances and in light of the purposes of Part 4 of the Tax Administration Act 1994.

Subclause (5) is subject to section 138G of the Tax Administration Act 1994.

Every notice, application, or other document required under this Part to be served must be served,—

The parties to an appeal are the objector and the Commissioner.

The points of objection must state with sufficient particularity so as to fairly inform the Commissioner and the Authority of—

Copies of any documents on which the objector intends to rely must be annexed to the points of objection, except where the documents are numerous, in which case a list of those documents may be annexed instead of copies of the actual documents.

A notice of the objector’s points of objection must be served on the Commissioner.

Service must be within 60 working days after—

If subclause (2)(b) applies, the date referred to in that subclause is,—

If the objector fails to serve the points of objection on the Commissioner within 60 working days, or within such further period as may be allowed, the objection is deemed to be withdrawn.

The Commissioner must state and sign a case within 60 working days after the date of service of the points of objection or within such further period as may be allowed.

The case must comprise of—

The case must be filed, together with 1 copy, with the Registrar.

If the Commissioner fails to file a case within the time specified in subclause (1), or within such further time as may be allowed, the objector may apply to the Authority for an order directing the Commissioner to allow the objector’s objection, and the Authority—

The contents of the case are not conclusive as to the matters contained in the case either against the objector or the Commissioner, except so far as agreed to in writing by or on behalf of the objector and the Commissioner.

Every notice, case stated, application, or other document required under this Part to be served must be served,—

At any time before a case stated is set down for hearing,—

The Authority may, on the written application of the objector or the Commissioner,—

until such time as the Authority thinks fit, whether the application is made before or after the expiry of the time limit.

If application is made for an extension of time more than 60 working days after the date for service of the points of objection or the date for filing the case, an order for extension of time must be made only in exceptional circumstances.

This Part applies to challenge proceedings in both the general jurisdiction and small claims jurisdiction of an Authority and objection proceedings.

The Registrar must appoint a time and place for a directions hearing in respect of proceedings in the general jurisdiction of an Authority and objection proceedings.

The Registrar must give the parties reasonable notice in writing of the time and place for the directions hearing.

The time for a directions hearing must be,—

At the directions hearing, the Authority may do all or any of the following (without limitation):

The Authority may permit a disputant or objector, or their legal representative, or any other person representing the disputant or objector, to attend the directions hearing by way of a telephone conference linkup, or by audio-visual link (AVL) and may direct whether the cost be met by the disputant or objector or by the Authority.

If a disputant or objector fails to attend the directions hearing, the challenge or objection is deemed to be withdrawn and the disputant or objector may not proceed with the challenge or objection without the consent of the Authority under regulation 32 or regulation 33, as the case may be.

As soon as practicable after the directions hearing, the Registrar must send to the parties a notice recording the directions made at the directions hearing.

A disputant who has failed to attend a directions hearing may apply in writing to the Authority for leave to proceed with a challenge.

The Authority may grant leave to proceed—

On receiving an application for leave to proceed with a challenge, the Registrar must deliver to the Commissioner at the National Office of the Inland Revenue Department at Wellington—

The date given in a notice required by subclause (3)(b) must be not less than 15 working days after the date of delivery of the notice.

An objector who has failed to attend a directions hearing may apply in writing to the Authority for leave to proceed with the appeal.

The Authority may grant leave to proceed—

On receiving an application for leave to proceed with a challenge, the Registrar must deliver to the Commissioner at the National Office of the Inland Revenue Department at Wellington a copy of the application.

The Authority may, at the same time as granting leave to proceed with the appeal, appoint a new time for the directions hearing.

After the directions hearing, either or both parties may apply in writing to the Registrar to have the challenge or objection set down for hearing.

After receiving an application, the Registrar must set a time and place for hearing the challenge or objection, having due regard to the convenience of both parties.

The Registrar must give the parties reasonable notice in writing of the time and place of the hearing.

If there is more than 1 Authority, then the Authorities must select the Authority that is to hear the challenge or appeal.

When selecting the Authority, the Authorities must have due regard to the convenience of the disputant or objector, as the case may be.

An Authority may from time to time compile and publish reports of matters brought before it and of the Authority’s decisions on such matters, and the Authority may authorise a person to compile and publish such reports.

A report may not contain—

An Authority may at any time prohibit the publication of any report of a matter brought before it or any report of a decision if the Authority is satisfied that publication would enable the identity of a party other than the Commissioner to be ascertained.

An order prohibiting publication may—

Neither the delivery to a publisher of a report authorised by this regulation nor the publication of such a report is a breach of section 18(1) of the Tax Administration Act 1994 or of any declaration of fidelity and secrecy given under that Act.

The Taxation Review Authority Regulations 1994 (SR 1994/41) are consequentially revoked.