New Zealand: IRD. Can't be arsed in short.

Arguably  taxation is the most important function that a government has, without revenue there is nothing a government can do. Most governments seem to be aware of this, although it seems to have escaped the notice of the current New Zealand government. That is not surprising.

My daughter has decided that she would like to get a job after school and in the weekends, something my partner and I support and have encouraged her to do. That of course requires an IRD number.

Due to my daughter's personal circumstances  her identity documentation is not acceptable to IRD ( NZ taxation agency ) her African name on her A identity doesn't match her B identity that is her school ID, which is in her anglicised name. This is a pain in the neck because it means we can't use the services of an IRD agent such as NZ Post.

A call to IRD last night resolved the problem or so I thought, they advised me that I could get an appointment on Thursday at the office of the Waipareira Trust. I called the trust this morning only to discover that the IRD office hours are 10am - 12.00pm once a month on a Thursday. Further more the Trust is under instruction to make no more than 6 appointments for that 2 hour period. Until amalgamation Waitakere city was at least the 5th largest city in New Zealand.

Waitakere City is a former territorial authority district in the west of Auckland, New Zealand, which was governed by the Waitakere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was amalgamated with other regional authorities into one new Auckland Council. Population 2006 census 186,444 .

Unsurprisingly there are no available appointments a situation the trust informed me is standard. The trust advised me to complain to the local MP, something I suspect would be a total waste of time.

I am used to governmental incompetence / indifference but I would have thought that IRD might have been an exception given its importance to the functioning of the government.