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New Email Scam Circulating in New Zealand

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Fraudulent emails claiming to be from the Inland Revenue Department and stating that the receiver is entitled to a tax refund have been circulating to New Zealanders’ inboxes. The emails have a similar layout to official IRD emails and also contain the IRD logo, making them appear legitimate at first…

IRD No Longer Accepting Cheques

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As of March 1st 2020, the Inland Revenue Department stopped accepting cheques. The decision was taken after Kiwibank, New Zealand Post, and the Accident Compensation Corporation took the same step. According to spokesperson Sharon Thompson, the IRD is becoming more digital in its operations and a majority of its customers…

OneCoin Cryptocurrency Investigation Reaches Second Auckland Church

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The Samoa Worship Centre in Auckland is being investigated by the Department of Internal Affairs for crimes related to cryptocurrency fraud. This is the second church to have alleged ties to a multi-billion dollar scam involving the OneCoin cryptocurrency. US authorities have also charged a OneCoin leader with fraud. Experts…

New Tax Law for Employee Travel

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Starting April 1 this year, the Inland Revenue Department will apply a new tax law for employee travel. This law simplifies the tax rules with regard to employees travelling long distances or to multiple locations for business reasons. The IRD noted that tax rules covering employee travel have up to…

Inland Revenue Pressures Oracle on Transfer Pricing

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The Inland Revenue Department is currently embroiled in a transfer pricing dispute with business software titan Oracle. Oracle received a statement of position with regards to taxes owed in April of last year. However, Oracle responded in June stating their disagreement with the matter. Professional tax advisors have commented that…

US$4.2 Million Seized From International Movie Piracy Website

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As criminals increasingly turn to cryptocurrencies to hide or transfer their wealth, governments and service providers have increased their focus on putting a halt to such practices. Following the shutdown of an international movie piracy website, assets generated by the site have been either frozen or seized. The movie piracy…

Over One-Third of Cyberattacks Come from State Sponsored Hackers

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New Zealand is a target for state-sponsored cyberattacks, according to the government’s National Cyber Security Centre. Official data indicates that as many as 38% of the 339 hacks that it responded to since 30 June 2018 were state-sponsored in origin. The NCSC reported that the number of attacks detected in…

Data Reveals Difference in Inflation Rates Between Households

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Is it getting more expensive to live in New Zealand? That depends on who you ask. New data from Stats NZ measures the cost of living through household living cost price indexes, comparing inflation between 13 different groups. In the third quarter of 2019, the highest-spending households experienced a quarterly…