Victory as National commits to ending bracket creep
The Taxpayers’ Union is celebrating a victory for taxpayers in the war against ‘bracket creep’, as National Leader Simon Bridges commits to ongoing adjustment of tax brackets for inflation.
Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “Simon Bridges’ commitment is a win for taxpayers, because it would end ongoing stealth tax hikes, meaning the benefit to taxpayers is infinite – unless a future government decides to reverse the legislation.”
“When the Taxpayers’ Union formed five years ago, bracket creep simply wasn’t on the agenda. Now, after we’ve banged on about the issue non-stop, the Opposition has committed to fixing the problem in Government. This represents a massive shift of the dial on this issue.”
“In a perfect world, National’s policy would be stronger, with annual instead of three-yearly adjustments, and the requirement for any veto of adjustment to go through Parliament. Both of these are a feature of the Canadian tax system. However, we congratulate Simon Bridges for addressing this issue, valuing taxpayers over revenue for politicians.”
“There’s no need for this to be
a left-right issue. If the Government wants to take the wind
out of National’s sails, they should do so now by making
the same commitment. It was after all Justin Trudeau's
father that implemented this policy in
Canada.”