Numbers scheme to cost more
Getting more out of a system to easily identify businesses is proving to be expensive, writes Tom Pullar-Strecker.
More money will be needed on top of millions already spent to get the most out of a new numbering system for sole traders, government officials say.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was allocated just over $12 million in 2015, to expand the system of New Zealand Business Numbers (NZBNs).
Previously, the 13-digit codes had only been available to companies, but the extra funding has allowed the system to be expanded.
It now includes more than a million sole traders, trusts and partnerships.
NZBN is a universal identifier aimed at allowing businesses to easily update, share key information and interact with each other.
It was introduced to streamline all essential business information. MBIE says that over time will become the only number businesses will need to use to interact with a range of other businesses and government agencies.
The numbers are available to any traders who apply for one, down to the likes of students who might spend a couple of hours a week doing odd jobs.
It is hoped they will make it easier for traders and businesses to deal with government agencies and one another, by helping them identify themselves online.
The Cabinet forecast last year that expanding NZBNs to all traders would help slash the cost to businesses of dealing with government agencies by a quarter.
But the business case is being rewritten to address what Treasury officials described as a ‘‘lack of clarity about the size of the benefits and timing of delivery’’.
Rather than indicating a problem, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment business services manager Ross van der Schyff, said the benefits of the numbers were expected to be ‘‘broader and more extensive’’ than originally thought.
The ministry was working out what more it would need to do to help government agencies use the numbers and realise the ‘‘full benefits’’, he said.
‘‘Requests for further funding will be completed in line with Treasury requirements and timeframes,’’ he said.
Sole traders can get an NZBN now but they might prefer to wait until the register was connected to Inland Revenue in March, so they could have ‘‘the easiest and simplest registration experience possible’’, Van der Schyff said.
The public can search a database of businesses and sole traders.
However, traders other than limited liability companies can choose to exclude their names from the public database to protect their privacy.
A law change last year gave the Government the right to add other information to the public database without requiring further legislation, but it would need consultation with Privacy Commissioner, John Edwards.
The Treasury report said fewer than a fifth of sole traders were aware of the numbers.