Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee has released reports on two tax bills, with recommendations that they both be passed with some amendments.

The report on the Taxation (Residential Land Withholding Tax, GST on Online Services, and Student Loans) Bill says the bill would make three main changes to current laws.

Part 1 would allow Inland Revenue and the Australian Taxation Office to share information on student loan borrowers living in Australia, with the aim of helping such borrowers to remain, or become, compliant with their obligations under the Student Loan Scheme Act 2011.

Part 2 would provide for a new withholding tax on sales of residential property by persons who have no or limited connection with New Zealand, within two years of purchase. The proposed residential land withholding tax is intended to act as a collection mechanism for the bright-line text which was introduced by the Taxation (Bright-line Test for Residential Land) Act 2015.

Part 3 would provide for GST to apply to cross-border services and intangibles supplied by offshore suppliers to New Zealand-resident consumers, by requiring offshore suppliers to register and return GST on these supplies. The applicable services would include internet downloads and online services such as e-books, music, videos, and software purchased from offshore websites. The new GST rules would come into force on 1 October 2016.

The bill was introduced on 16 November 2015 and referred to the committee on 8 December 2015 with submissions closing on 26 January 2016. The committee received 19 submissions. The officials' report on submissions received is available here.

The report on the Taxation (Transformation: First Phase Simplification and Other Measures) Bill says the bill seeks to simplify and improve the administration of the tax system. The main policy measures would provide for easier communication with and by the IRD, simplified tax rules, and the sharing of information.

The bill was introduced on 30 June 2015 and referred to the committee on 13 October 2015 with submissions closing on 13 November 2015. The committee received 12 submissions. The officials' report on submissions received is available here.