26 NOVEMBER 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is cautiously welcoming Simon Bridges’ “no new taxes” commitment.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says “Simon Bridges’ commitment is welcome, and should be an expected condition for any leadership of the National Party. It is particularly good news that any capital gains tax introduced between now and the election would be repealed in the event that National takes power in 2020.”

“Unfortunately, politicians seem to be very bad at keeping these types of promises. Just look at the current Prime Minister, who made the same promise, before hiking fuel taxes across the country once she was elected. Then there’s Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, who promised to keep rates hikes low, but in practice just grabbed revenue via new charges and levies.”

“Fees, levies, excise taxes, ACC charges, and the bright-line regime are all forms of taxes. Any changes to those policy settings that hurt New Zealanders in their wallet also need to be included in Bridges’ commitment. Using any of the above as revenue-grabbing loopholes would be an unfortunate betrayal of today's promise."

ENDS

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