New Zealand updates its partnership legislation : from policy to draft legislation : a tax perspective

The New Zealand government released a discussion document in June 2006 setting out the new tax rules that will apply to limited partnerships. The discussion document, entitled General and Limited Partnerships - Proposed Tax Changes, proposes to codify the current tax rules applicable to general partnerships and introduces new rules for limited partnerships which will apply to business activities that operate in partnership form in all sectors. After some introductory remarks, the article provides an overview of the reasons for reviewing the partnership law in New Zealand and the associated taxation issues, summarizes the proposals in the discussion document, and analyses the major tax changes proposed. The article also considers the initial public comments on the proposals and the themes that emerged from the submissions on the discussion document. Finally, the article comments on the Official's Report on the submissions and reviews the proposals in the Limted Partnerships Bill introduced in August 2007.