Chapter 17
Authorising the charging of fees and levies
This is a single section from Chapter 17. Read the full chapter here.
Part 1
Should the service or function be subject to a fee?
Fees should be charged only if the nature of the service or function is appropriate and the fee can be quantified and efficiently recovered.
Whether a service or function should be subject to a fee is not always clear and will involve a number of considerations. The table below sets out some of the key issues to consider when determining whether it is appropriate to charge a fee:
| Fees may be appropriate | Fees may be inappropriate |
| Service or function is rendered to an individual and confers a benefit | Service or function is provided to the community as a whole |
| Service or function is rendered by request | Service or function is non-voluntary |
| Fee is easily quantifiable | Impractical to quantify the fee |
| Fee is easy to recover | Impractical to recover the fee |
| Service or function is transactional or regulatory in nature | Service or function is contractual in nature (and the level of charge can be negotiated contractually) |
| Examples: driver licensing and passports, and Overseas Investment Office consents | Examples: police, public hospitals, and Department of Conservation concessions |
Legislation should not provide for secondary legislation to set a fee for a service if the service is something that the user is not bound to use or the provider is not bound to provide, and the level of the fee could be negotiated contractually when the service is requested (such as granting a licence to run a business in a national park).
Whether the courts find that a particular charge is a fee or a tax will involve considering:
- the terms of the empowering provision;
- the level of the charge;
- the costs of providing the service or performing the function, relative to the income from charges;
- the purpose for the charge;
- who the charge applies to; and
- in what circumstances the charge is imposed.
A fee may be considered a tax if it does not bear a proper relation to the cost of providing the function or service to which it relates.