Opinion pieces
PwC is committed to providing informed opinions and views on issues affecting businesses and industries in New Zealand. Here you'll find a list of current opinion pieces written by our experts.
[18 December 2012]
The Minister of Finance and the Treasury released two key documents that signal the direction the economy and Government will take over the next few years. The Budget Policy Statement (BPS) signals the Government’s strategic intentions for Budget 2013 and outlines the most important opportunities, constraints and challenges.
[11 July 2012]
"GST is further changing and New Zealand businesses need to prepare now," is the message from PwC GST Partner Eugen Trombitas. Mr Trombitas warns businesses of the importance and impacts of the Government's changes to GST and how it will affect them.
[28 January 2012]
The saying goes "imitation is the best form of flattery" and it is certainly the case when it comes to the European Commission announcing a new Value Added Tax (VAT) strategy in the European Commission’s "Communication on the Future of European VAT" released in December.
[January 2012]
Last year was 12 months of fraud, espionage, online warfare, hacktivism and other evils: Businesses have never felt so vulnerable to attack. New Zealand enterprises now face a real threat to their reputations, profits and futures - cybercrime.
This country - previously considered a relatively safe haven - has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of crimes committed using computers and the internet.
[2 January 2012]
In the next five years more than 40% of New Zealand's small and medium-sized businesses will come on to the market as baby boomers seek to cash out and retire.
With small businesses making up 97% of all New Zealand enterprises, this represents a significant number of business sales and a boom for would-be business owners. But, what does this mean for sellers? In the minds of many soon-to-be retirees, a picture of retirement happiness is likely to be something that resembles a permanent summer break provided for by a lifetime's worth of hard work invested in their former business. Yet for most, this vision of family time spent by the bach could likely be shattered when the business value is tested on the open market.
[29 December 2011]
The growing gap between New Zealand's rich and poor has had a lot of media attention in recent years.
Or maybe it's just the general election was this year, and "the haves" and "the have nots" are always a popular topic for politicians. No matter which side of the political fence they sit on, the main message is always clear, each promises to do its bit to reduce inequality, based on their perception of the issue.
[21 December 2011]
For many in Taranaki’s business community, 2011 won’t be remembered with any fondness. It’s been a tough year for our business leaders and if we’re smart, we’ll take a cautious approach and position our businesses for the rough ride to continue in the months ahead. Yet, let’s reflect back and learn from the experiences of the past and re-evaluate our business strategies and plans to fit with a turbulent economy.
[22 March 2011]
From 1 April 2011 most sales of land (and buildings) between GST-registered persons will be zero-rated for GST purposes under new rules referred to as compulsory zero-rating (CZR) of land transactions.
[17 March 2011]
Just six months ago, the GST landscape underwent significant change when the rate increased to 15%. Now come 1 April we will be heading down another new path as compulsory zero-rating (GST at 0%) starts applying to all transactions involving land between GST-registered parties. This is a sweeping change.