The Privy Council has ruled the Crown Forestry Rental Trust is a charity, meaning the trust is exempt from paying income tax for the past and future.
The decision to uphold an appeal by the trust closes almost a decade of legal tussles which began when the Inland Revenue Department changed the trust's tax status.
Over $40 million tax the trust has paid since the dispute arose should be returned to it shortly, it said in a statement.
The Crown Forestry Rental Trust is an independent trust jointly established by the Crown and Maori to manage and administer interest earned from investment of rental proceeds from crown forest licensed land.
The income is used to assist in the preparation, presentation and negotiation of claims before the Waitangi Tribunal.
"The money returned to us will form part of the ongoing support for the settlement of all crown forest claims," trust board chairman Sir Graham Latimer said in a statement.
"It's another step in the process of re-focusing the trust's work."
- NZPA
$40m to return to forestry rental trust after Privy Council ruling
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