Funny that even in that article no such claim is made. As we all know the benefit cuts were not linked to tax cuts because the benefit cuts were made in 1991 and the first tax cuts for the same government were not until years later, 1996 IIRC. The benefit cuts were made to address the immediate budget deficit that Labour left on their departure from office.

If Labour has given tax cuts without reversing the benefit cuts they must be following that kind of policy according to such logic.

Ari, taxing peoples income is more efficient than letting them spend it? That is the funniest thing that I have heard since Helen Clark studied and lapped up Stalin and Lenin in her university days and trialed it out what she learned on New Zealanders in the late 20th century!

It is inefficient and wasteful to pay too much tax. Economies work better under lower taxes. It is basic economic fact that I learn’t in the third form.

Dazza: “Taking money off those who earn it by force’

pweet – offside! For consistency’s sake you can’t argue tax is theft and simulataneously argue a flat tax system, unless that tax system is flat at a rate of 0%. If you want to argue that, be my guest.

Lew, we need some tax to run police and armed forces. Nothing else. A flat tax would be best.

Still waiting for an answer to my original post Stevo, I’m guessing you don’t have one

Cheers, Darren

Flat taxes give people an incentive Stevo

Huh? How would the incentive be any different from the current one?

I get a pay rise, I get more money in my pocket, I am pleased. The End.

Anita, if you cant see why I cant really help you. All I can say is if your income tax rate goes up the more you earn, the incentive isn’t there for you to work harder. If the tax rates went down as you earn’t more then the incentive to work harder is clear.

Cheers though, Darren

But many rigthies goes further than this, they are men firmly possessed of a belief in their own great talent and self-worth. This belief that all his wealth and power he enjoys is somehow entirely of his own making and deserving leads to the belief that all tax is at some level a form of theft.

The Christian viewpoint informs us that this is wrong. (As do most other religions as well.) The underpinning idea of a Creator, who is not only the inspiration and sustaining power underpinning Creation, but a loving God who in His Grace creates us all different, born to differing nations, families and places in history, but also with our own particular capabilities and characters. These things determine our path in life, equally as much as education and application. Oftentimes it seems that great fortune is as matter of grace as anything else.

Yet all prosperity is absolutely conditioned by one thing. Wealth ONLY exists in the context of a civilised, decent and cohesive society. The greater the wealth, the MORE dependent that wealth is on the efforts of myriad others who have made that wealth possible. No man is a multi-millionare on the back of his or her own personal efforts. (John Key for instance made his wealth by speculating on currency movements between nations. He generated not one jot of benefit to society for doing so, but nonetheless because our current civilisation is exceedingly complex there is a fine living for some to be made by exploiting these sorts of parasitic opportunities.)

It is indeed entirely fair that those few of us who attain to great wealth should be also obliged to repay a larger share back to society as a whole. We are unavoidably, our brothers keepers.

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/07/hotton_hon_how_labour_can_win.html#comment-463771

Not taking that ban too well, eh?

“Can any of the righties here actually provide any examples of countires with low taxes that have greater productivity and standard of living than those which have higher taxes and greater social spending?”

Singapore.

Everyone has basic housing supplied – HDB. Good capitalists rent out their “mansion” to expats and live in their HDB.

Very much focussed on a user-pays system for luxury items. Basic essentials are free of GST and typically cheap (by Singapore Standards)

Hopefully once the heathen is shown the door, Mr Key will restructure our economy in a similar way.

My effective tax rate in Singapore was ~9.5% on total earnings over 180k. I came back to NZ because it is a great country – yet because I am a “rich prick” I am paying ~35% tax. More than $60k in tax for what? SFA, because I end up paying for everything I need and use anyway through everyother tax.

Shouldn’t Cullen be encouraging people to aspire to be like John Key (Do well for themselves) rather than calling him a prick because he has been successful? This twat is supposed to be an exemplar for our young, entrepreneurs, socially misdirected etc. and he goes around making comments like that…. What sort of opinions is he forming in the minds of the young and impressionable? – Can only loathe him.

I choose to stay in NZ. What about you?

“What’s fair about taking from the poor to give to the rich?”

How the hell can taxing someone be seen as taking from the poor to give to the rich, when it is their own money?

So how is it fair that 12% of working New Zealanders pay 51% of our tax take?

Absolutely fair.

Right now I am well enough, earn well, and pay whacking great heaps of tax.

A decade ago, when I was really unwell, I survived on the sickness benefit.

For some time after that I worked part time (as much as I could) and paid much less tax than I do now in both relative and absolute terms.

I pay what I am able to toward supporting all of my community – when I am able to earn well I pay a lot more than people who are less fortunate than me, that seems fair to me.

I pay tax to support our public health system (without which I would be either a permanent beneficiary, or permanently hospitalised, or dead), I pay tax to support our education system so that we all have the best chance to be as productive and happy as we can (as I am), I pay tax to support all other services of government that we need to be healthy, productive and happy as a community and as individuals.

What is so unfair about that?