Meeting the Challenges of Taxing Multinational Enterprises in New Zealand

There have been significant concerns globally regarding the undertaxation of multinational enterprises(MNEs).New Zealand has considerably relied on MNEs in terms of income tax collection.Consequently a full range of measures to combat base erosion and profit shifting(BEPS) by MNEs have been implemented,guided by the products emanating from the OECD’s BEPS Action Plan.These law changes have been buttressed by the New Zealand tax administration through undertaking a robust intelligence-led tax compliance programme targeting high risk sectors and issues involving MNEs.Inevitably there have been some trade-offs in taking this approach,but New Zealand regards the desired behavioural shifts by MNEs as a direct result of this substantial work on BEPS,with little material impact on the level of foreign direct investment.