Plummeting business confidence shows need for tax cuts

With NZIER’s quarterly survey showing a further deterioration in business confidence, the Government needs to commit to cutting taxes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says “Unless the Government changes its approach to economic policy, the economy is going to come off the boil, unemployment will creep up and the Government will miss its Budget Responsibility Rules debt targets. This isn’t a computer game or a thought experiment – this is a real economy with jobs and livelihoods at stake.”

“Businesses are facing years of significant minimum wage hikes, changes to labour law, and the prospect that – like the oil and gas industry – the Government may regulate them out of existence. Meanwhile, the headline business and personal income tax rates haven’t fallen in eight years. It’s no surprise that confidence in the economy is falling.”

“While the Prime Minister is no fan of President Donald Trump, she must surely appreciate the stimulus effect his recent tax package produced. Her Government should put a rocket under the economy and real wage growth by replicating his domestic tax policies here.”

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