Govt accounts still in deficit as lumpy tax take persists

Fri, 29 Nov 2019

The government's accounts were still in deficit in the first four months of the fiscal year as the Inland Revenue Department's new systems saw some of the corporate tax take recognised in the previous year. The operating balance before gains and losses was a deficit of $1.08 billion in the four months ended Oct. 31, wider than the $258 million deficit a year earlier. Treasury officials had forecast a surplus of $893 million surplus for the four months in the May budget. However, those projections have been pushed around by IRD's new system...

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