I was trying to change a piece of tax law which I, my very influential employers and even more influential directors thought was unnecessarily driving up financing costs to NZ companies. With my CEO's support and through directors' networks I was put in touch with a very senior Treasury manager who was responsible for tax policy. I also contacted very senior IRD people I knew.
The IRD thought my proposal could work and agreed in principal with the idea, despite it meaning a loss of tax revenue. The Treasury mandarin decided he did not like the idea. The IRD, my directors and CEO and I piled up the evidence and knocked over every objection Mr Treasury mounted. Finally, he stated, "The Minister of Finance is opposed to the idea." Unfortunately for him, we had direct input to the Minister and so we asked the question. The Minister loved the idea and ordered the law to be changed.
The point is that Mr Treasury lied. Had we not had the means to go around him, the idea would never have seen the light of day. It has now been a feature of NZ tax law for many years.
This is unfortunately typical of what I have experienced, the dead hand of the public service.
No comments:
Post a Comment