Credit: Original article can be found here
Priorities signalled in today’s Budget all point to the
need for a tax and revenue system that is equipped to
safeguard the future wellbeing of all New Zealanders, says
Tax Justice Aotearoa chair Glenn Barclay.
“A better
future for all New Zealanders won’t happen without a
fundamental move to build better and fairer taxes,” says
Glenn Barclay. “It’s that simple”.
“It is
disappointing that government after government keeps kicking
the need for making major changes to taxes down the road.
This just creates an environment of underinvestment, and the
consequences of that are seen in media headlines in Aotearoa
every day.
“Tax Justice Aotearoa is encouraged that
today’s Budget has included the move to bring the trustee
tax rate in line with the top personal tax rate, as
recommended by officials.
“It is a small step in the
right direction towards a fairer and more transparent
system. By bringing trustee tax rates into line with top
personal tax rates it means New Zealand will no longer be
behind Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United
States.
“The appetite for more changes is growing.
The Newshub Reid Research poll this week showed a clear
majority, 53.1 percent, said yes to a better tax on wealth.
As reported by Newshub it was a poll that signals that
voters want serious changes made to taxes.
“On top
of that in the last week we have seen at sharingwealth.nz that
not all wealthy people object to paying more
taxes.
“This election year Tax Justice Aotearoa
wants to see more forward-thinking tax policies from
political parties because tax reforms are fundamental to
meeting the future challenges outlined in today’s Budget,”
says Glenn Barclay.
“Debating how we meet and pay
for those urgent challenges cannot be sidestepped or ignored
any longer.
“What’s missing for better Budgets to
happen are better taxes.
“For the public good we need
a broader tax base to deliver revenue sufficient to build
better infrastructure and housing, for better education
prospects, for better health outcomes, for better public
services and for better responses to absorbing the rolling
shocks of the mounting climate emergency.
“The scale
and breadth of challenges covered in today’s Budget – from
child poverty to community resilience – demand urgency and
they depend on better taxes not less
taxes”.