Taxpayers' Union welcomes value capture tax

13 MARCH 2018

The Minister of Finance’s decision to investigate a Value Capture Tax in Auckland to pay for infrastructure is an intelligent application of the ‘user pays’ principle, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says “This appears to be a return to what used to be called ‘betterment levies’, which were used in the early 20th century to finance rural roading and infrastructure. Properly framed, they restrict the Council from wasting money on ‘nice-to-haves’ as they are levied on the actual increase in value of a property resulting from the improvement.”

“A cycle-way, for example, if it had no discernable impact on property values could not be flogged off on a local ‘targeted-rate’. Value capture taxes introduce a level of economic discipline on the Council that all ratepayers would applaud.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media