Monday 1 Jul 2002

ACT Finance Spokesman Rodney Hide MP said today that Helen Clark's statement on Morning Report this morning that New Zealand has tax rates `lower than anywhere in the western world, in fact lower than anywhere in the whole OECD except Mexico' was as fake as one of her paintings.

"The OECD reports the total tax take in New Zealand is 36.2 percent of GDP which puts us at number 18 out of 30 in the developed nations.

"Helen Clark is wrong. Her Government taxes New Zealanders above the weighted average for developed Nations - 33%.

"It is simply not true that New Zealand has the lowest taxes in the Western world apart from Mexico. Helen Clark is once again relying on spin not facts.

"Only ACT is campaigning for immediate tax cuts. We say our company tax rate must be taken immediately below that of Australia's to 28 percent. We want the top rate of personal tax down to 28 percent. We are also campaigning for a tax cut for ever worker.

"Labour is no longer the working person's party. Labour has done nothing for working New Zealand.

"For the record, the average tax paid by someone on $30,000 is 19.1% in New Zealand, and 17.9% in Australia. For someone on just $20,000, in NZ their average tax is 18.2%, while in Australia they pay just 11.9%.

"Helen Clark's paintings aren't the only thing fake this election. So too is Helen Clark's understanding of just how much she is taking from hard-working New Zealanders," Mr Hide said.

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