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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

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