United New Zealand leader, Hon Peter Dunne, has given cautious approval to the Government's proposed tax changes announced today, arising out of last year's Finance & Expenditure Select Committee inquiry into the powers and operations of Inland Revenue.

Mr Dunne, a former Minister of Revenue, who chaired the Select Committee inquiry, says the changes seem to be headed in the right direction.

"While the Bill has only just been tabled, and will take a deal of absorbing, at first glance it looks generally positive," he says.

Mr Dunne, who has been critical of the time the Government has been taking to respond to the Select Committee's recommendations, says today's legislation alleviates some of his concerns that the Government was not taking the report seriously enough.

"However, while the Bill contains many useful provisions, there is still a long way to go, both to implement in full our recommendations, and also to deal with some of the other issues, such as the burden of proof, and a statement of taxpayer rights that we were unable to address in the time available to us last year."

"These issues are still important and deserve full inquiry and investigation by the Select Committee, and I hope the Committee will move in this direction in the next few months."

"Useful and all as today's moves appear, they cannot be allowed to rest as the Government's last word on the IRD inquiry."

"Taxpayers deserve a far better deal than that, and the pressure must remain on the Minister and his colleagues to make major improvements to achieve a genuinely fair tax system," Mr Dunne says.

ENDS