Open mike 09/09/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 9th, 2024 - 13 comments
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13 comments on “Open mike 09/09/2024 ”

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  1. Mike the Lefty 1
    9 September 2024 at 9:24 am

    So IRD are "giving" information about taxpayers to third parties?

    Are they serious?

    Disgusting.

    Makes you wonder if the conspiracy theorists are right about not trusting the government.

    No wonder we get so many scam emails purportedly from IRD. God knows what ripoff artists have your details.

    I bet they didn't give it away for free.

    Heads should roll.

  2. SPC 2
    9 September 2024 at 2:02 pm

    The concept, that the wealthy would not mind paying more tax – if they were happy as to how government used, it has been raised.

    While Plested said he would personally be happy to pay more tax, he was not sure others in the super rich ranks would be so keen.

    "The concern I think the wealthy have is that the government will squander it, and so there's a certain resentment about paying more than you should.

    "If we had a good enough government, they could get away with it and it could become part of the deal."

    A deal… 24/36 OECD nations have a CGT and an estate/inheritance tax (we had an estate tax till 1993 and a gift duty till 2013).

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350407749/billionaire-mainfreight-co-founder-bruce-plested-backs-wealth-tax-catch

    • bwaghorn 2.1
      9 September 2024 at 5:33 pm

      The study concluded the families paid an effective tax rate of 9.4 percent – less than half of the 20.2 percent rate the average New Zealander paid.

      That should be the headline

      • tc 2.1.1
        9 September 2024 at 6:33 pm

        Totally and they can STFU on where government spends until they at least contribute the average.

  3. tWig 3
    9 September 2024 at 7:31 pm

    10% effective tax is not uncommon amongst landlords and tradies who can play shell games with companies

  4. Jenny 4
    10 September 2024 at 12:56 am

    Uh, Oh!

    I once watche a documentary on TV, (years ago, before the internet). It was about the survivability of natural and man made disasters. It used several case studies, the one I remember was the North Sea ferry disaster.

    From Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia:

    Zeebrugge ferry disaster

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Herald_of_Free_Enterprise#:

    The disaster resulted in the deaths of 193 people. Many of those on board had taken advantage of a promotion in The Sun newspaper offering cheap trips to the continent.[26] Most of the victims were trapped inside the ship and succumbed to hypothermia because of the frigid water.[27]

    The documentary recounted, a young man pulled alive from the freezing waters of the North Sea after several hours of being imersed in water so cold, that theoretically he should not have been able to survive, with a body tempeature rarely seen in a living person. But survive he did, and after being warmed up and checked out made a full recovery..

    Disaster, after disaster, this pattern was repeated. Earthquake, Tsunami, Floods, Fires Plane crash, the most likely people to survive any disaster, were young men between the age of 18 and 35, women, children, older men, had far lower survival rates.

    Extrapolate this occurance to Gaza, population 2 million, and what do you get?

    Tens of thousands of young men between the age of 18, and 35, who have lost their girlfriends, their wives, their children, their parents. their homes, everyone they have known and loved. The more civilians Israel kills, of the survivors, proportionally, more young men of fighting age will be left behind, than any other group.

    If this trend proves true for Gaza, it may explain why Hamas is getting its second wind.

    And why this war will not end soon.

    Hamas has significantly strengthened its presence in Northern Gaza despite extensive efforts by the IDF. The group has recruited around 3,000 new operatives, armed them, and paid them for activities against the IDF. A report by Israel's Channel 12 reveals that this buildup has increased Hamas' capabilities, with the absence of large IDF deployments in the area contributing to their ability to operate freely. While some Israeli forces remain in the region, their numbers are limited.