NZ tax department defends power to snoop in bedrooms

Mon, 23 Jul 2012

By Paul McBeth July 23 (BusinessDesk) - The Inland Revenue Department defended its right to use wide-ranging search powers that included snooping in a bedroom in its dispute with Auckland businessmen Andrew Tauber and Paul Webb. Counsel for the tax department, Pauline Courtney, told the Court of Appeal in Wellington search powers under the Tax Administration Act differ from similar investigations in criminal settings because of the secrecy obligations on the commissioner and because they won't be used unless certain standards of materiality...

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