Low tax take, high spending leaves books in the red

Falling tax revenue and an increase in expenditure has left the Government books more than $1 billion in the red, Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker says.

“For the fifth month in a row, the Government’s accounts have undershot expectations with expenses $423 million higher than forecast and tax revenue $829 million below forecast.

“Bill English claims the benefits of the economic growth are being shared fairly. If that were the case, tax revenue would not be so short of his projections.

“The books have now been worse than predicted in November, December, January, February and now March.

“It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the Finance Minister’s wafer-thin micro surplus for 2014/15 that he will announce in next Thursday’s Budget.

“The Household Labour Force Survey released this week shows wages are stagnating and unemployment remains stubbornly high.

“Bill English is busy claiming workers can expect significant wage increases but if their pay was growing, the Government’s tax take would not be so short of its target.

“National’s lack of vision for the economy has been shown up by these continuing shortfalls.

“Labour’s economic upgrade will support better jobs and higher incomes,” David Parker says.

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