Source: Better Taxes for a Better Future
The National Party’s promise that there will be no taxes – including ruling out a bank tax and a bed tax – mean everyday New Zealanders will continue to foot the bill to maintain the profits of multi-national corporations and the lifestyles of the wealthiest, warns Better Taxes for a Better Future.
“Currently our tax system is unbalanced, with ordinary working people and local businesses contributing the vast majority of the tax revenue to keep our country going. In refusing to properly tax the major Australian-owned banks or to ask tourists to pay their fair share to maintain the infrastructure they use, the National Party is asking everyday New Zealanders to take on even more of the load,” said Kate Stone, Better Taxes spokesperson.
“For most New Zealanders taking a holiday is a luxury they simply cannot afford right now. Yet, we’re all being asked to cover the costs of the services and infrastructure being used by those who have the money to travel. That is rates’ and tax revenue that is not being spent on maintaining basic public services that we rely upon, like public transport and hospitals.”
“As the Mayors of Auckland, Rotorua and Queenstown Lakes have said, we’re already being taxed to pay for the cost of tourism. A bed tax would have been a small additional charge on those who can afford to stay in a hotel and reduce the amount of rates spent on tourism. Luxon’s concernabout a couple spending a weekend away in Queenstown having to pay an additional $6 a night via a bed tax, is a joke at a time when we’re seeing record levels of homelessness, and local and national housing providers unable to keep up with the need for emergency housing,” said Stone.
National’s decision to rule out a banking levy also looks out of touch. Polling commissioned by Better Taxesahead of the Budget in May showed that a majority of people thought the government should bring in a major bank levy – 52% agreed; 24% disagreed. The support was even higher amongst National and ACT party voters – 59% and 57% respectively.
“Banking levies are common sense measures that already exist in Australia, the UK and elsewhere in Europe. These are measures that would bring in much needed revenue to fund critical public services and infrastructure. Our analysisshows that a levy like Australia’s could generate $275-300 million. With the addition of an excess profits surcharge, as in the UK, we could generate a further $250 million. This would be more than enough to fund high, quality free school lunches for all our tamariki,” said Stone.
“What’s more the Big 4 Australian-owned banks are making enormous profits out of New Zealand – their profits increased by 25% in real terms over the past 10 years, a higher profit margin than in Australia, but they pay a banking levy there and not here. So when the National Party says “no new taxes” and rules out a banking levy, they’re really asking ordinary New Zealanders and local businesses to keep carrying more of the load to keep our economy ticking, while big multinationals making extreme profits aren’t paying their fair share.”
“It’s understandable that people might be concerned that banks will pass the cost of the levy on to consumers, because the banks are determined to make as much profit for their shareholders as possible. But there are ways that these levies can be designed to mitigate this risk. To refuse to act because big corporates will try to avoid paying their fair share is basically giving up on the idea that New Zealanders should get a fair go,” said Stone.
You can read the full Better Taxes and Tax Justice Aotearoa policy platform here.
The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign is a coalition of over 20 organisations led by Tax Justice Aotearoa.