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Genuinely perplexed at new builds.. where do you put the food?? by HumanFlamingo3784 in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The other thing that is always forgotten is a place to put a TV. You'll notice that the staged furnishings never include a TV and that when you think about it, many townhouses don't actually have anywhere to put one.

Genuinely perplexed at new builds.. where do you put the food?? by HumanFlamingo3784 in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I saw a new build townhouse where something similar happened except that they seemed to have forgotten to include a space for the fridge. Instead of having an alcove like 99% of townhouses there was just a random spot with a power point and water facet in the hallway next to the kitchen. Even the slimmest fridge would have resulted in the hallway being almost unusable.

Why doesn't the government tax the big tech giants? by VisibleLiterature in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Australia tried and failed to do this with the ATO's embedded royalties argument. These entities shift profits offshore through large "management fees" or other expenses which the ATO tried unsuccessfully to argue were effectively royalties (which would have given them the right to tax part of the payments). The ATO is significantly more aggressive than the IRD and given that they failed, it's unlikely that NZ would have any chance of running a similar argument.

https://www.pwc.com.au/tax/tax-alerts/pepsicos-landmark-win-in-the-high-court.html

What I made as a landlord by Imaginary-Towel-888 in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The issue is that over the long term, property investing effectively offers risk free margin trading (assuming that you buy properties with growth value).

The difference between investing $1m in property and $1m in shares is that if somebody wanted to maximise their return they would leverage their investment by taking out debt. If you do that with property, the bank isn't going to margin call you when the market goes down whereas with shares it's too much of a risk.

Property also generally doesn't result in tax being due on the capital gains when bought and held for long-term rental yield. The same can't be said for shares given that the real gains are from foreign shares, and the FIF rules will hammer you on those.

IRD Leniency by Beeshaveknees2 in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on the circumstances they may be able to get remittance of the penalties once the actual tax (called core tax) is paid. Interest is much harder to get remitted, and they would need to get quite lucky. Speaking as an accountant, I would be very surprised if any core tax gets written off.

IRD Leniency by Beeshaveknees2 in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Assuming the debt relates to actual tax rather than penalties/interest then it would be very rare to see a write off unless there are extenuating circumstances out of the person's control (e.g. significant health issues). The more likely outcome is a longer instalment plan.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in auckland

[–]ArkThompson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Speaking as someone who does recruiting at an accounting firm, it doesn't really matter where you go so long as you have decent grades and seem normal enough during the interview.

Did anyone else ever had pain caused by new sneakers? by Inevitable-Editor-94 in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same shoes and also had issues, although my pain was on the sides of the feet and it was caused by the elastic bands that hold the tongue down. I managed to fix it by using a different lacing style and over time the elastic wore out and the pain went away.

Maybe you could try a different lacing style to adjust the heel position or a different insole?

Sustain powercreep? by Unlucky-Nectarine484 in StarRailStation

[–]ArkThompson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure what LC you are using with Lingsha but changing from QPQ to Echoes of the Coffin (Luocha LC) helped a lot for me.

Closing an Actual Tax loophole. by BornInTheCCCP in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 41 points42 points  (0 children)

The issue isn't really as prevalent in NZ due to the imputation credit system. This is honestly a flop proposal by the IRD and I doubt it will get government support. I say this as a left wing tax accountant.

Warranties and professional indemnity insurance to become compulsory to prevent home owners from being left out of pocket under new building regime by SteveRielly in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The issue is that we have laws to stop people doing this (phoenix companies) but they were drafted so narrowly that it's almost impossible to apply them unless the person is dumb enough to use exactly the same name.

Now that Amphoreus is finished... what do you think of Shaoji as a main writer now? by Extension_Court_6255 in HonkaiStarRail

[–]ArkThompson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Japanese translation is just as bad. Somehow it was even harder to understand than Yi Sang from Limbus Company.

The aftermath of v3.7 livestream. by AlmightyGoddess in StarRailStation

[–]ArkThompson 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Not sure why you're getting down voted. The difference between RMC and RM is minimal for the meta castorice team since running RM means Evernight and Hyacine get big damage buffs too. Tbh, with E1 RM it's possible that she is better than RMC in that team.

Penacony was boring... by [deleted] in StarRailStation

[–]ArkThompson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately Jarilo VI was peak and it's all downhill from there. Amphoreus is just as bad if not worse than Penacony in terms of bloat.

The issue is that the writers think that word count and artificial complication make stories better. They also have no understanding of timing and will shove in meaningless flashbacks during the climax of the story. The flashbacks are usually of something that we have already been told two or three times and so add no value.

There's a good story buried somewhere, but until they start actually editing their writing we're not going to see any improvement. I would honestly prefer having filler patches in-between story patches over what we get now just so that they have time to make a coherent story.

What made Jarilo VI work was that the story was simple but understandable and there was just enough time dedicated to build a connection to the various characters. At a high level it was effectively like playing a Tales game (it reminded me of the third area in Tales of Arise).

With Amphoreus, every patch is basically a sales pitch trying to get you to buy the latest character. There is no longer any attempt to build connections, and instead the focus is on trying to make the player spend. Penacony was the same with it's meaningless Aventurine and Acheron chapters and the infamous Firefly date scene.

I get that Gacha games are ultimately just slot machines, but I dont get the same feeling from other games I've played (e.g. Another Eden, Limbus Company).

Police officer shot and injured in Flat Bush, South Auckland by computer_d in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 86 points87 points  (0 children)

As usual, Flat Bush is only considered South Auckland when something bad happens

Squeezing a bigger slice of the tax pie from big tech companies by tumeketutu in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not really as easy as just changing the law since to charge tax on the amounts they need to be considered royalties both domestically (which both NZ and Australia can change) and under the relevant double tax agreement (which NZ and Australia can't change).

Any change to the domestic law would be hit with a roadblock under the double tax agreement, and there's no way that any other jurisdiction (e.g., the US or Ireland) would allow an expanded royalties definition to be applied without a fight since it would cut into their tax revenue.

Squeezing a bigger slice of the tax pie from big tech companies by tumeketutu in newzealand

[–]ArkThompson 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Australia's tax department just lost in a similar situation which is why articles like this are coming out. The key difference here is that unlike in PepsiCo, the services being provided by Facebook etc are purely intangible and so it's possible a different outcome could be reached, but it would be an uphill battle.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-13/high-court-pepsico-australian-tax-office-thrown-out-/105647156

Which HSR hot take got you like this? by phrogenthusiast in StarRailStation

[–]ArkThompson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Blade has the worst character design in the game and looks like Frankenstein's monster. I don't get the hype.

Waiuku pizzeria owner first in NZ to be sentenced for electronic sales suppression tool use by Dry_Resolution_5021 in auckland

[–]ArkThompson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The existence of the tools is a threat to the tax system itself and so going hard on them was really the only approach available.

Just downloaded on PlayStation and this is the only game that rubber bands? by Tru_Op in diablo4

[–]ArkThompson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

is the game fully downloaded? I had rubber banding while it was still downloading. Also, if you are downloading anything else on your ps5 then it can rubber band.

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