Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Who feels sorry for the doctor arrested over student loan debt?

Right, hands up — who felt sorry for the doctor arrested at the border for not paying back his student loan?

So the details are: this chap owes almost $180,000. Yes, he admits he should have responded to IRD on the multiple occasions they tried to contact him — but he didn’t. And he says he didn’t realise how much money he owed until just recently.

Dr Eric Crampton: The taxing problem of zombie and phoenix companies

Damien Grant isn’t normally the one making the case that the government needs to take more in tax. The liquidator and libertarian-minded columnist over at the Sunday Star Times more typically wants what libertarians generally want – a government that spends less and that can let each of us keep more of our own money.

On 23 November, Grant’s column made a different case.

Companies collect GST on their sales and remit the money to the government. They also pay income taxes on behalf of their employees – PAYE.

DTNZ: Inland Revenue steps up bank deductions as tax debt tops $9.3b

Thousands of New Zealanders have had funds taken directly from their bank accounts as Inland Revenue intensifies efforts to recover unpaid taxes.

Since mid-June, the department has issued 16,500 deduction notices—25 percent more than in all of last year—recovering $17 million from over 8,000 completed deductions and another $5.5 million still in progress.