The Inland Revenue Department has ducked the key question about its dealings with an aggrieved taxpayer.
The Post reports the taxpayer’s plaint under the heading –
‘He’s a nutter’: IRD staff’s comments about small business owner rankle
It kicks off:
George Evans wanted answers from Inland Revenue. Instead, he found out what some of its staff thought of him.
“Oh gawd [name], your nemesis,“ one wrote, under a link to a Stuff story featuring the Nelson entrepreneur.
“I can’t decide whether that’s funny or sad,“ another said, referring to Evans’ long-running battle to see his delivery business treated equally to his competitors.
“Mind blowing ignorance,“ said another.
“Don’t let you get this down, the guy is a nutter!”
Evans – who established a Nelson-based delivery service, YUMMi – is embroiled in a long-running dispute with the IRD over his tax classification.
His competitors — like Delivereasy and Uber Eats — are deemed “marketplaces” under tax rules.
YUMMi is considered a “direct seller”.
This (according to The Post) means the burden of GST falls squarely on him, whereas his competitors can offset part of that tax through a driver credit.
The Post reports that in March, in an effort to understand the reasoning behind IRD’s decisions, he requested all the information the department held about him, including emails, recordings, messages.
His request was processed under the Privacy Act, which allows individuals the right to ask any business, organisation or government agency for the information they hold about an applicant.
The response included internal staff messages.
“I’m ropeable,” one says of Evans’ story in Stuff.
“Yep I would be as well, I know how much you guys try and help these people,“ replied a colleague.
“He’s really angry that his business isn’t doing well so he’s just lashing out at everyone,“ another wrote.
IRD is reported to have apologised to Evans about this boorish behaviour by its bureaucrats. A “media adviser” is quoted as saying:
“We take such matters seriously and appropriate steps have been taken to address this with the staff involved to reinforce expectations around conduct and communication.”
But – according to Evans – no-one has explained to him why he is classified differently from his competitors.
And that, surely, is the key issue here.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
“Oh gawd [name], your nemesis,“ one wrote, under a link to a Stuff story featuring the Nelson entrepreneur.
“I can’t decide whether that’s funny or sad,“ another said, referring to Evans’ long-running battle to see his delivery business treated equally to his competitors.
“Mind blowing ignorance,“ said another.
“Don’t let you get this down, the guy is a nutter!”
Evans – who established a Nelson-based delivery service, YUMMi – is embroiled in a long-running dispute with the IRD over his tax classification.
His competitors — like Delivereasy and Uber Eats — are deemed “marketplaces” under tax rules.
YUMMi is considered a “direct seller”.
This (according to The Post) means the burden of GST falls squarely on him, whereas his competitors can offset part of that tax through a driver credit.
The Post reports that in March, in an effort to understand the reasoning behind IRD’s decisions, he requested all the information the department held about him, including emails, recordings, messages.
His request was processed under the Privacy Act, which allows individuals the right to ask any business, organisation or government agency for the information they hold about an applicant.
The response included internal staff messages.
“I’m ropeable,” one says of Evans’ story in Stuff.
“Yep I would be as well, I know how much you guys try and help these people,“ replied a colleague.
“He’s really angry that his business isn’t doing well so he’s just lashing out at everyone,“ another wrote.
IRD is reported to have apologised to Evans about this boorish behaviour by its bureaucrats. A “media adviser” is quoted as saying:
“We take such matters seriously and appropriate steps have been taken to address this with the staff involved to reinforce expectations around conduct and communication.”
But – according to Evans – no-one has explained to him why he is classified differently from his competitors.
And that, surely, is the key issue here.
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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