Tax Justice Aotearoa welcomes the latest Horizon poll which shows poll only 9% of respondents support a cut to corporate tax rates. (ref. https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360621413/poll-suggests-few-support-corporate-tax-breaks )
TJA chair Glenn Barclay said the findings aligned with a recent petition organised by Tax Justice Aotearoa in which 13,000 people called on Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis to say NO to corporate tax cuts, in response to their earlier suggestions New Zealand’s corporate tax rates were too high.
“These signatures were collected in little over three weeks which is an indication of the level of public opposition to corporate tax cuts,” Mr Barclay said.
“Corporate tax cuts will do little to boost the economy but will instead end up costing us a lot of money – with a 1 percentage point reduction in corporate tax equal to $650m.
“$650m is nearly the same as Te Whatu Ora’s deficit and is the equivalent of 1,187 hospital bed nights a year.
“$650m would more than fully fund the School Lunch Programme over two years, or could be used to employ up to 6,300 nurses
“It is also enough to maintain benefits’ link to wages for four years,” Mr Barclay said.
“This is money we need when important public services, such as healthcare and school lunches, are under pressure.
“We also welcome the strong support for a capital gains tax and a wealth tax in this survey, which aligns with surveys we conducted in 2023.
“We strongly call on the government not to introduce cuts to corporate taxes in this year’s budget.”
