Tax Justice media release
18 October 2010

Tax Justice will be an election issue in 2011

“Tax all forms of income equally no matter how that income is earned” — that was the wording contained in a remit at the Labour Party conference over the weekend (see ‘Quiet comeback for tax on wealth’, NZ Herald, 18 Oct, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10681297).

“Taxing all forms of income is something the Tax Justice campaign endorses,” says Vaughan Gunson, Tax Justice campaign coordinator.

“We want to see financial speculation taxed. It’s currently not,” says Gunson. “Rich individuals and corporates who speculate on price shifts in a range of New Zealand markets are not paying tax at the point where their profits are accumulated.”

Mr Gunson highlights the example of the Kiwi dollar, which is one of the most traded currencies in the world due to unrestrained speculation by global hedge funds and the like. But the speculators pay no tax on any profits they make to the New Zealand government.

“The introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax would allow the government to source much needed tax revenue from the world’s mega-rich,” says Gunson. “They’ll hardly miss it, but the extra tax received will make a difference to the lives of ordinary New Zealanders. For starters, we could offer relief at the supermarket by removing GST from food.”

“We expect the twin demands of the Tax Justice campaign – GST off food and a tax on financial speculation – to be big issues in election year,” says Gunson. “We’ve been getting a lot of support on the street from Labour supporters who agree with what we’re saying.”

The Tax Justice campaign is collecting signatures for a petition calling on GST to be removed from all food and financial speculation to be taxed. 20,000 New Zealanders have so far signed the petition.

ENDS

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