Policy on levy transition updated

FENZ (Fire and Emergency New Zealand), previously NZ Fire Service, have released their formal policy document on levy compliance and enforcement for the levy transitional period which began on 1st July 2017 and runs through until Part 3 (Levy) of the new FENZ Act commences.

This policy, which was agreed with IBANZ and ICNZ in May, refers to Mid Term Adjustments (MTAs) and an Interest Grace Period.

It sets out how FENZ monitors and enforces certain aspects of the levy regime during the levy transition period.

FENZ personnel will apply this policy when:

• assessing if a levy return is compliant
• deciding what actions to take when non-compliance is detected.

The aim of this policy is to provide a clear, consistent framework to guide compliance and enforcement decision-making during the levy transition period.

This policy does not stop any legal levy liability, but rather states a fair and proportionate response to any instance of non-compliance that is due to recognised transitional challenges faced by levy payers.

FENZ say they will continue to take enforcement action when they consider there to be outright noncompliance not covered by these stated exceptions.

NB   the Policy initially issued by FENZ has now been amended to remove a confusing clause that had been added to the original wording signed off by IBANZ and ICNZ.

The offending clause was in the MTA section, IBANZ issued an email clarifying what this meant last Thursday.  However in the meantime we suggested to FENZ they remove the clause which should not have been inserted.

FENZ have now agreed that this additional clause was confusing and not relevant to MTAs. 

Although the updated policy has yet to be formally issued, we have a marked up copy of the full agreement HERE.