Air New Zealand refunds taxes from Cook Islands

The Cook Islands government paid Air New Zealand $5.4 million following a lawsuit in the High Court of Rarotonga.

of court judgment He said it was in favor of the airlines and Air New Zealand taxes should be paid in New Zealand, not the Cook Islands.

The country’s prime minister, Mark Brown, said: Cook Islands news The payment was “essentially a tax return”.

Brown told the paper on Saturday that the dispute relates to the taxation of profits on government-assisted flights from Los Angeles and Sydney.

RNZ Pacific reached out to Cook Islands Treasury Secretary Garth Henderson for comment, but was told he could not comment “due to confidentiality obligations.”

In a written statement, Air New Zealand’s chief financial officer, Richard Thomson, said the airline admitted to being wrongly taxed on certain payments it received from the Cook Islands government.

Air New Zealand Chief Financial Officer Richard Thomson
photograph: Payment / Air New Zealand

“This decision strengthens international tax rules for the taxation of international airlines,” Thomson said.

“All income received by Air New Zealand from the Cook Islands Government is taxable in New Zealand.”

The Cook Islands government will also have to pay additional legal fees, but Brown did not disclose how much these costs would be. Cook Islands news.

Mr Brown said no one was responsible for Air New Zealand’s payments.

“We hire the best tax attorneys to manage the more complex cases,” he said.

“We got a tax refund. This is a tax refund. Lawyers are not responsible for anything. One wins, the other loses and that’s it. If you win, you lose.”