Responding to news that New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax hikes in the OECD last year, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:

“People earning no more in real terms have a higher and higher proportion of their income taken with every passing year thanks to 14 uninterrupted years of bracket creep. The inflation tax keeps robbing more from Kiwi workers, and Government after Government has been happy to look the other way.

“As health, education, and law & order outcomes plummet, Kiwis have been squeezed dry for the privilege. A single Kiwi on the average wage needs to see Nicola Willis slashing their income tax bill cut by almost 7% just to undo last year’s ballooning alone.

“A one-off adjustment isn’t enough. Any tax relief in the budget without indexing tax brackets to inflation is just giving with one hand whilst promising to keep stealing more and more each year with the other.”

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