Search

In this episode, Eric talks to Oliver about a major loophole in New Zealand's tax system that allows some companies to accumulate PAYE and GST debts, stop filing, and effectively walk away — contributing to almost $7 billion in unpaid corporate taxes. They discuss Oliver's new research note, "Responsibility before ruin: A pre-emptive fix for NZ's phoenix problem", which examines how Germany prevents such debts from building up through automatic insolvency triggers. Read more

Wellington (Tuesday, 2 December 2025) - A new approach to director accountability could prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in tax debt from becoming unrecoverable by requiring directors to act early when financial distress emerges, according to a research note from The New Zealand Initiative. The research note, 'Responsibility before ruin: A pre-emptive fix for NZ's phoenix problem', addresses companies that accumulate large tax debts before dissolving, sometimes only to restart under a new name. Read more

Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Newstalk ZB on the corporate tax debt loophole that sees IRD writing off hundreds of millions of dollars annually due to the "Phoenix problem," where companies dissolve and reform under new names. Dr Hartwich highlighted Germany's solution, where directors face personal liability for tax debts if they fail to pay within 20 days or file for insolvency. Read more

Nick Clark talked to Paul Brennan on Reality Check Radio about his report on New Zealand's electoral system and why it needs reform. Clark argued for moving to four-year terms, increasing MP numbers to strengthen select committees, lowering the 5% party threshold, scrapping costly low-turnout by-elections, tightening advance voting rules, and improving civics education so voters better understand how democracy works. Read more