Anne's strong ties to the Chatham Islands make tax more manageable ? even during COVID
New Zealand's tax laws can get complicated, especially for businesses.
How can you keep up to date with all the latest changes while still dealing with the day-to-day management of suppliers, staff, and customers?
We have good news for you!
Inland Revenue's Community Compliance team loves making tax easier for people in business, just like you.
In this article, you'll see how Anne, one of our Community Compliance people, has been helping an isolated community for many years. The strong relationships established paid off recently, when COVID-19 put extra pressure on businesses.
Anne joined a cross-government forum to help the local community get through the crisis.
Meet Anne Williams
When COVID-19 first broke out, the Chatham Islands economy was badly affected.
Many Chatham Islanders earn their income from exporting fish and crayfish to China, so when China closed its borders in January 2020, local authorities were worried. How could fishers and their families survive on vastly reduced incomes?
Inland Revenue wanted to help, and fortunately we already had a strong connection with the Chatham Islands.
Christchurch Community Compliance Officer Anne Williams has been supporting our Chatham Islands customers for over 17 years. She understands the local community and the challenges people face in their daily lives.
Effects of isolation
The Chatham Islands are 750 kilometres from mainland New Zealand and the isolated location means life is quite different over there.
Anne says, 'For a start, most supplies ? for homes and businesses ? are brought in by plane or coastal freighter. That means the cost of living is nearly 3 times higher than for the rest of New Zealand.
There's no high school on the Chathams and students must travel to schools on the mainland.'
Communicating with Chatham Islanders isn't always straight forward. There are no cell phones, and the local internet service isn't reliable.
'The signal is sent from a dish in Warkworth and bounces off a satellite before arriving at the Chathams', says Anne.
'In bad weather, the internet doesn't behave well, which makes communication difficult for everyone. For our customers, doing their taxes online is frustrating because the systems keep timing out.'
Cross-government forum steps up in response to challenges of lockdown
When New Zealand went into lockdown in March 2020, the Chatham Islands Stakeholder Forum stepped up to help Chatham Islanders get through COVID.
The forum, led by the Department of Internal Affairs, includes representatives from around 30 government and non-government agencies. Anne, who represents Inland Revenue on the forum, says a cross-government approach is ensuring Chatham Islanders are getting assistance on all fronts.
'Following the 2020 lockdown, the Chathams experienced some very pressing problems in all aspects of their lives. For example, there was a shortage of both fresh and non-perishable food. People were particularly worried about the welfare of their kaumātua (older men) and kuia (older women).
'High-school students were returning to the Islands after lockdown was announced. Would they bring COVID home with them? What needed to be put in place to keep everyone safe?'
Initially, the forum held hui twice a week. As no one could travel, and online conference calls weren't an option (because of the unreliable internet service), everything was done the old-fashioned way ? by telephone conference call.
'By talking to the people directly affected by COVID, the forum could tackle the issues that mattered and provide solutions that worked,' says Anne.
Ensuring a reliable supply of food
The forum worked with supermarkets, food distribution centres, and Air Chathams to coordinate efforts to make fresh food available throughout the Islands.
MSD provided interim funding to establish pātaka kai (food banks) so a reliable stock of non-perishable foods could be available to Islanders.
Arrangements for high-school students
Chatham Islanders were concerned high-school students would fall behind in their education during lockdown when they could no longer attend school on the mainland.
The Ministry of Education provided resource packs to help students keep up with their studies and teaching was carried out by parents supported by local primary school teachers.
4G network on the way
During a hui, Chatham Islanders told the forum about the difficulties with their internet service, which really came to a head during lockdown when school students struggled to log in to do their schoolwork.
The forum contacted representatives from the telecommunications industry to discuss the current service and how it could be improved.
Anne says the discussions were successful.
'Contracts have now been signed for a 4G network to be installed, which is a wonderful outcome for all Chatham Islanders.
'I think it's really neat that something good has come out of COVID.'
Providing financial assistance to Chatham Islanders
When businesses began experiencing difficulties as a direct result of COVID-19, the Government introduced financial assistance packages ? including the small business cashflow loan, wage subsidy, and resurgence support payment ? to help these businesses survive.
At Inland Revenue, we knew many Chatham Islands businesses would be eligible for assistance, but we were concerned not everyone would be aware of what was available.
Anne and her colleague Rata Kamau (a Business Transformation Account Manager) arranged to publish essential information in the Chatham Community Focus Trust Newsletter.
Building relationships with Māori and Moriori
In 2018, Anne and Rata spent a week in the Chatham Islands to update local people on the latest tax changes.
During the visit, Anne and Rata talked to representatives from the Māori and Moriori communities to explain intended changes to reporting for large financial entities.
'We also wanted to finalise customers' yearly tax requirements, and hear ideas for ways we could make entitlements easier to access,' says Anne
The remaining time was spent helping businesses with their taxes and carrying out face-to-face interviews with people needing a hand with overdue payments and tax returns.
In 2019, Anne and Rata returned for another week-long visit. This time, Rata wanted to formally introduce Anne and himself to Moriori at the local Kopinga Marae.
Anne says, 'It was Rata’s mana that secured the invitation. The Moriori have very interesting protocols. Ancestors are represented by carved poles, and when we arrived on the marae, we were introduced to the ancestors with a karakii (the Moriori word for prayer).
'We found the Māori and Moriori communities had quite different concerns from the issues raised with us by individual customers.'
Long history of support for Chatham Islanders
Anne has been Inland Revenue's Chatham Islands liaison person for over 17 years now. Pre-COVID, she visited the Islands in person, normally once a year.
She sets up shop in the Heartlands Services office.
'People book appointments or just drop in,' says Anne. 'I also go to homes and businesses ? whatever works best for the customer.
'From time to time, I hold training session on topics of interest. On one visit, I was asked if I could organise a night meeting. This was no problem, and to my surprise we had more people turn up at night than during the day.'
Anne can help people with income tax, GST, record keeping, Working for Families, child support, and concerns they may have with late returns or payments.
'Anyone can fall behind with their taxes,' she says. 'Life happens, and we understand that. I let people know we can work with them to get everything back on track.
'One of the best parts of my job is seeing the weight coming off someone's shoulders when they realise everything's going to be OK.'
Anne encourages people to set up an online account with Inland Revenue, so they can take control of their taxes and interact with us at a time that best suits their personal schedule.
Life is different on the Chathams!
Anne says every trip to the Chathams is unique and memorable.
'On one occasion, I focussed on collecting overdue returns. Appointments were booked ahead of time, and I did home visits. One customer didn’t have electricity during the day, so we had to sit by the window to see what we were doing.'
Another time, Anne was asked if she could fly to Pitt Island to let people know all about KiwiSaver.
Pitt Island is the second largest island in the Chatham Islands and lies 20 kilometres to the southeast of Chatham Island itself.
'I was told to take my toothbrush and a change of clothes in case I got stuck there for a couple of days.
'The plane had to buzz the cattle off the grass strip so we could land. Everyone was really pleased to see the plane, not because of me, but because the ladies had been on a shopping trip to Wellington, the plane had their shopping on board!
'I also learnt how the locals keep their feet dry if they've left their gumboots at home. You put plastic bags over your bare feet, put your socks on, then repeat the plastic bags, then put your shoes on. Voilà, dry feet!'
Do you need a hand with your taxes?
Are you in business for yourself? We know it can be tough keeping up with the 'paperwork' on top of everything else going on.
That's where our Community Compliance people (like Anne) come in.
They can help you with record keeping and filing tax returns, answer any questions you may have, and set you up with an online account so you can manage everything from home.
You may like to come along to a seminar or request a one-on-one visit for a more personal service.
New to business? Do get in touch with us so we can help you start off on the right foot.
An old hand? We can give you a refresher or help out if your taxes have got away on you!
Talk soon?