David Cunliffe
Revenue Spokesperson

13 March 2013

Park tax costs more to collect than brings in

National’s pathetic car park tax is running into such overwhelming opposition Peter Dunne should drop it, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson David Cunliffe.

“Everyone from ACT to the Property Council to unions has united against this petty parking tax. This opposition shows how desperate and penny-pinching this Government is.

“Not only is it petty, this tax will likely lose money. Today the Fringe Benefit Tax Action Group said the cost of collecting the tax at $30 million is almost twice the $17 million that would be brought into the coffers. Collections would be reduced by the ability of businesses to game the proposed rules.

“The tax hurts employers and threatens the safety of low-income workers such as cleaners, who will have to walk at night to get to a car park. Nobody wins, even the IRD loses.

“The Government has already taxed paper boys. Now it’s car parks. In the pipeline it’s mobile phones, laptops and even food vouchers.

“We know the Government’s books are in trouble but they won’t be fixed by penny-pinching or trying to get spare change from the back of the couch. We need bold reform such as a capital gains tax and research and development tax credits to help fix the books,” says David Cunliffe.

ENDS

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"Unlawful, Unjustified And Unreasonable": Report Into Urewera Raids Finds Police Acted Unlawfully

Independent Police Conduct Authority Chair Judge Sir David Carruthers said today that the decision by the then Commissioner of Police to undertake the operation in Ruatoki Valley and elsewhere on 15 October 2007 was reasonable and justified.

“However, the road blocks established by Police at Ruatoki and Taneatua were unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable... Police had no legal basis for stopping and searching vehicles or photographing drivers or passengers,” he said...

The report also showed that the detention of the occupants at five properties examined by the Authority was unlawful and unreasonable. More>>