National Should Immediately Reverse Labour's Tax Hike

Monday 15 Apr 2002

ACT Finance spokesman Rodney Hide said to day that he was thrilled National had recommitted to tax cuts under the leadership of Bill English.

"Bill English has got the direction right - but the amounts are too miniscule. Why should taxpayers have to wait three years to get the top rate of tax back to where it was before Labour hiked it? That hike should go immediately. National ran the country with a top rate of 33 cents back then, they should be planning to do so again. Otherwise it looks like Bill English is planning to outspend Bill Birch.

"National has never dropped the top rate of tax or the company rate of tax. Only a Labour Government - when the Labour Party was economically sensible with Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble - have done that.

"Still, the battle lines for the coming election are drawn. On one side are those who want to tax more. On the other side are those who want to tax less.

"The ACT caucus has put a paper to the ACT Board proposing an immediate cut to the top rate of tax and to the company rate of tax to 28 cents. We have then proposed a five-year programme to take the top rate of tax down to twenty cents.

"There is plenty of dopey spending that should be cut so that people can keep more of their money. Handouts to business are a good place to start. Jim Anderton has proved himself no more adept at picking business winners than he has at list MPs with Alamein Kopu, Pam Corkery, the Greens and now another lot of defectors springing to mind," Mr Hide said.

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