There is plenty of scope for Inland Revenue to use Dunedin technology talent as it develops its new fit-for-purpose tax system, Deloitte Dunedin taxation partner Peter Truman says.
Revenue Minister Todd McClay announced on Wednesday he was making it easier for people to interact with Inland Revenue through a ''transformation programme''.
The revamped IT system is rumoured to be likely to cost between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.
''With many Dunedin skilled jobs under threat, there is an opportunity for Government to support local jobs through ensuring the project spend occurred throughout New Zealand,'' Mr Truman said.
He also welcomed Mr McClay's decision to visit Dunedin and other centres to explain the programme.
Mr McClay said in his Wednesday release that Inland Revenue would hold meetings in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland to engage with the tax and IT sectors to explain the scale and complexity of the programme.
Mr Truman believed given the potential significance of the changes, tax professionals in large centres such as Dunedin and Hamilton should be included.
A spokesman for the minister contacted the Otago Daily Times yesterday to say Mr McClay was now including Dunedin, Queenstown, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wanganui in his programme of workshops explaining the process.
The spokesman said the urgency in releasing the change programme meant ''only main centres'' were included in the release. When it was pointed out people in Dunedin and Hamilton probably thought they lived in main centres, the spokesman agreed.
Mr Truman said it was very pleasing the minister had announced Inland Revenue's consultation was extended to include workshops in a further five centres, including Dunedin.
''Inland Revenue will benefit through a wider consultation process and Dunedin-based tax and IT professionals will appreciate the ability to feed into the process.
''Involvement in the consultation process will also highlight the opportunities for Dunedin businesses to be involved in the transformation project.
''The project size is significant and the Government has the ability to support economic activity in Dunedin through ensuring that some of the spend occurs here.''
Asked how Dunedin could be involved, Mr Truman said the city had a long history of technology innovation and the programme would involve a lot of people, many of whom could be third-party providers rather than keeping the development in-house.
