27 September 2018

Taxes and more taxes – ACC levies could rise

Proposed ACC hikes released today are further cause for concern and could be the latest step for the Government to increase taxes and drive up costs on Kiwi families, National’s ACC spokesperson Tim Macindoe says.

“ACC’s proposed changes to levies would mean a 12 per cent jump in car levies and a 2.5 per cent increase on earners’ levies coming straight from workers’ pockets.

“The average motor vehicle levy would increase from around $114 to $128, which is a significant reversal of the reductions made by the previous National Government who brought it down from $335 in 2013 to $114 in 2017.

“The changes to the motor vehicle levy also include an increase of almost 2 cents per litre for petrol. This would be on top of the Government’s unnecessary national fuel tax increases totalling an extra 12 cents a litre.

“Kiwis are already facing record fuel prices thanks to a combination of the falling Kiwi dollar, international movements and the Government’s fuel tax hikes have seen fuel increase to around $2.40 per litre across the country.

“National put more money back into household pockets by keeping these levies low. These ACC levy increases would be another blow to wage earners already struggling to deal with high petrol costs and rising rents.

“The cost of living is only continuing to increase and the fact of the matter is that Kiwi incomes aren’t keeping up. Recently released data from Statistics New Zealand shows that the cost of living rose faster than incomes over the last three months.

“National will continue to hold this Government to account for its irresponsible attitude towards the ever-increasing costs of living it is causing.”

© Scoop Media