31 JANUARY 2019

Grant Robertson’s response to Simon Bridges’ tax bracket indexation announcement indicates that he misses the point of the policy, says the New Zealand Taxpayers Union.

Taxpayers’ Union Economist Joe Ascroft says, “It’s contradictory for the Finance Minister to argue both that indexation of tax brackets is too expensive, and that it’s a ‘small change’ tax cut.”

“Tax bracket indexation is not a tax cut, and nor is it meant to be. Mr Robertson misses the point of the policy, which is that real tax rates are kept steady, meaning that any politician who wants to collect more revenue will have to openly legislate for a tax hike, and explain this decision to the public.”

“Indexation would improve transparency by ending ongoing stealth tax hikes, and it would help voters hold politicians accountable for their revenue-grabbing.”

ENDS

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