Consultation: GST - directors’ fees and board members’ fees
Inland Revenue has released an exposure draft updating its public guidance about the GST treatment of directors’ fees and board members' fees. This consultation follows recent legislative amendments (notably to section 6 of the GST Act), which mean parts of the existing public rulings are now no longer correct. As a result, Inland Revenue is proposing to withdraw and reissue the current suite of rulings and supporting guidance. While largely a refresh exercise, the update reflects Inland Revenue’s continued focus on ensuring the GST treatment of governance roles aligns with the underlying concept of a taxable activity.
OECD Global Minimum Tax Implementation Toolkit
The OECD Global Minimum Tax Implementation Toolkit is a practical guide for governments and tax authorities about how to implement and administer the Pillar Two global minimum tax (15%) for large multinational groups. It outlines the key steps in the implementation process, including identifying in-scope multinationals, incorporating the rules into domestic law, setting up administrative and compliance systems, and enabling information exchange between jurisdictions. Overall, the document focuses on helping countries apply the rules consistently and efficiently in practice, rather than changing the underlying tax framework itself.
Technical decision summary (TDS): Off market share cancellation
Inland Revenue's TDS 26/04 summarises a private ruling where payments from an off market share cancellation during a wind down were treated as a return of capital up to available subscribed capital (ASC), with the excess taxed as a dividend and not considered payments in lieu of dividends. The summary highlights the share for share exchange limitation can restrict ASC and therefore limit tax free treatment, while no anti avoidance applies where the arrangement reflects a genuine commercial wind down.
Status update publication: Taxation (Annual Rates for 2025–26, Compliance Simplification, and Remedial Measures) Act 2026
The Act received Royal assent on 30 March 2026 and a status and guidance publication has been recently published to primarily cover explanatory material rather than introducing new legislative text.