Abolition of gift duty confirmed

Monday 1st November 2010

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne today confirmed the government's intention to abolish gift duty, saying the decision would be welcomed by taxpayers generally as the rules were resulting in a high level of compliance costs and were no longer raising significant revenue.

"Earlier this year I announced the government's intention to remove gift duty if concerns regarding creditor protection and social assistance targeting could be addressed," said Dunne.

"Since my announcement there has been considerable work done by officials across government to assess the concerns. This work has revealed that the protection that gift duty offers in the areas of income tax, creditors and social assistance has only ever been incidental and very limited."

"Furthermore, the limited protection that gift duty offers does not outweigh the significant compliance costs, estimated at approximately $70 million per year that gift duty imposes on the private sector."

Dunne said government agencies would monitor the impact of the changes and a post-implementation review would take place to ensure there were no unintended affects.

The abolition of gift duty will be included in legislation to be introduced in November 2010 and will be effective from October 1, 2011.

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