Legal professional privilege and New Zealand's taxation law

The income tax system in New Zealand as well as in comparable jurisdictions, such as that of Australia, are heavily reliant on taxpayers voluntarily complying with their duties to furnish any required information to the respective taxation authorities. Such compliance is reinforced by the sanction that information can be obtained coercively. This information is required in order to ensure that taxpayers are correctly reporting on their income, in order to ensure that correct assessments are made regarding the tax that is payable on such income.