Path to Surplus Not All About Tax
Path to Surplus Not All About
Tax
11 MAY 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
The best time to cut
spending is in an up economy, that is the message from
theTaxpayers’ Union responding to today's release of the monthly accounts
confirming that the Government will record another deficit
if it continues to grow its overall spending. The Union is
calling on Bill English to cut out wasteful government
programmes and reduce the Government’s burden on hard
working New Zealanders.
Taxpayers’ Union
Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:
“There is a
strong correlation between the size of government and
prosperity of economies. Allowing citizens to keep more
money in their pockets is a stimulus to economic
growth.”
“With the economy on the up, this is the
perfect time for the National Party to demonstrate that it
still stands for fiscal conservatism. With the public sector
more than forty percent of the economy, we are calling for
Mr English to identify the lowest priorities and cut the
fat.”
“Despite all the talk in opposition about the
growth of pen pushing bureaucrats in Wellington, the numbers
are still as high as any time under the Clark-led
government. If Mr English really believes in ‘better
public service’ he should be making sure that taxpayers
are getting value for money.”
“Abolishing the
Ministry for Women, whose officials earn more than $104,000
on average, could allow that money to be utilised for more
resources to tackle domestic violence. Ruling out cuts
means taxpayers must continue to fork out millions for
Wellington busybodies creating PC-nonsense."
“Another
obvious area for Mr English to tackle is the $700 per
household spent per year on corporate welfare. Cutting that
alone would allow the Government to give all businesses a
shot in the arm with a reduced 22.5% company tax rate
compared to the current 28%. Applied to personal income
taxes, abolishing the corporate welfare would allow a $490
tax cut for every income earner."*
* The saving is
outlined on page 12 of Monopoly Money: The cost of corporate
welfare since 2008, and is based on using the saving
to reduce the 10.5 percent personal tax rate (applicable to
the first $14,000 of income) to 7 per
cent.
ENDS