Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, March 15th, 2024 - 4 comments
The IRD has estimated that National’s proposed Overseas Gambling Levy Policy will bring in $500 million less than it promised during the election campaign.
Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, March 13th, 2024 - 45 comments
The right has this belief that they are economic geniuses. Occasionally this belief is shown to be faulty. Like this week when National’s costings for tax cuts to Landlords was $800 million more than previously estimated.
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, January 7th, 2024 - 115 comments
A George Monbiot article in the Guardian made me wonder what effect the Atlas Network is having on New Zealand politics through the Taxpayer’s Union. Publicly available information suggests considerable funding is being made available and that the current Government’s priorities are precisely those that the Atlas Network would approve of.
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 pm, November 7th, 2023 - 53 comments
It was never going to be anything else, but two positive emerged. All policy options are back on the table, including tax, and there is a realisation that the main task ahead is to rebuild a strong and progressive party.
Written By: - Date published: 4:43 pm, November 2nd, 2023 - 18 comments
In 2021, I voted against Labour’s conference proposal for midstream leadership change to be determined by Caucus alone, saying that it risked Labour becoming a cadre party for elites. A series of posts will start with why the Caucus should not rush to a leadership vote.
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, October 11th, 2023 - 24 comments
Craig Rennie of the CTU has continued his excellent work analysing National’s proposed tax cuts and has come up with a doozie. Landlords who own multiple properties will get huge tax cuts if National’s policy is put in place.
Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, October 6th, 2023 - 31 comments
National has suffered further damage to its credibility with its promise of a $250 tax cut per fortnight for an average family only being realised if that family spent at least $300 per week on childcare and was a two income family with each adult earning between $53,500 and $66,000.
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, October 5th, 2023 - 9 comments
In recent times Goldman Sax has warned National that its policies will hurt the economy. And S&P has praised Labour’s handling of the economy and expressed a high assessment of various factors relating to the country.
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 pm, September 27th, 2023 - 16 comments
Earlier this year Andrew Marr wrote in the New Statesmen, that Britain’s problem was that it wanted Scandinavian levels of Public Services and North American levels of taxation. His view was that Britain was overdue for an honest debate about tax and public spending. In New Zealand, there is a similar challenge.
Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, September 25th, 2023 - 39 comments
Nicola Willis has essentially confirmed that the design of National’s foreign purchase of land tax was and remains sufficient to be done on the back of an envelope.
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, September 21st, 2023 - 7 comments
A year ago this month, the Liz Truss/Kwasi Kwarteng mini-budget destroyed once and for all the myth that the Tories are better at managing the economy. The New Zealand National Party could not even wait until they were in government to prove the same applies to them.
Written By: - Date published: 9:52 am, September 16th, 2023 - 19 comments
Despite repeated analysis that its policies do not add up National is refusing to release the costings behind its policies.
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, September 14th, 2023 - 115 comments
Independent economists have calculated that there is a half a billion dollar hole in National’s foreigner land purchase tax policy.
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 2nd, 2023 - 40 comments
When the history of the 2023 New Zealand Aotearoa general election is written and if Labour gets up to win historians will point to the events of this week as the turning point in what has already been a dramatic year in politics. Because I cannot believe how bad National’s tax cut policy release has been researched and structured and how bad its release is going.
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, September 1st, 2023 - 30 comments
National’s announcement of four new taxes to fund tax cuts rely on herculean assumptions that will never be met. And their proposal for climate change will undermine the slow but steady progress the country has been making to meeting its emission reduction goals.
Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, August 13th, 2023 - 168 comments
As predicted Labour has announced a policy of taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables and a significant adjustment to Working for Families In House Tax Credit levels and the Thresholds.
Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, July 30th, 2023 - 163 comments
We need to recognise our risk to the capital flight risk of the 1%, but also recognise the benefit to the 99% of us.
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, July 28th, 2023 - 87 comments
National’s Nicola Willis has claimed that Labour will soon announce policy to take GST off fresh fruit and vegetables.
Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, July 14th, 2023 - 63 comments
Act has declared its class prejudice by advocating for the cancellation of the free lunch in schools programme even though the benefits are clear and recognised and the programme helps poor kids’ nutrition and education.
Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, July 12th, 2023 - 92 comments
Chris Hipkins today stated that for any future Government he leads after the next election there will be no wealth or capital gains tax implemented. End of story.
Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, June 12th, 2023 - 13 comments
According to National holding a modest shareholding can open a Minister to allegations of conflict of interest but owning seven investment properties and proposing beneficial tax treatment of landlords does not.
Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, June 12th, 2023 - 29 comments
Last night I watched Christopher Luxon in a interview with Jack Tame on Q&A from youtube. My takeaway from it was that I don’t want this fool anywhere near actual policy. He exhibited a blissful ignorance about downstream effects of genetic engineering, climate change, and productivity in our economy. Even where I agreed with him like on GE – I didn’t want this idiot implementing policy on it.
Written By: - Date published: 6:31 pm, June 11th, 2023 - 65 comments
The Green Party has today announced an income guarantee and a wealth tax.
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, June 1st, 2023 - 64 comments
The pros & cons of tax cuts vs. universalism suggest that universalism might be universally better for New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 16th, 2023 - 99 comments
National’s latest policy brainstorm is to print out and mail to every taxpayer information they could obtain by using Google and MyIRD.
Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, April 27th, 2023 - 186 comments
With the release by David Parker of a report showing that the wealthiest New Zealanders pay tax at much less than half the rate of other Kiwis is it time to again debate the virtue of a comprehensive Capital Gains Tax.
Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 15th, 2023 - 41 comments
Is it just me or is Mike Hosking becoming more unbalanced? The recent misrepresentation of a speech from Deborah Russell would suggest that he is getting worse.
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, March 10th, 2023 - 49 comments
The case for redistribution of wealth in New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, March 6th, 2023 - 21 comments
National’s proposed child care subsidy policy is essentially an increase to existing grants that will fuel inflation and costs increases in the child care sector.
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, March 5th, 2023 - 27 comments
To pay for recent flood damage Grant Robertson has to decide on what proportion of this will be paid by new debt, what proportion by reallocation of expenditure, and what proportion by special tax levies. Is an Australian style levy under consideration?
Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, March 1st, 2023 - 60 comments
Instead of creating an appeal fund and one-off lotto draw, the Labour Government could tax the billions of dollars banks have made in unearned, excess profits and use the money to support people.
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