12 April 2002

United Future Wants Income Splitting For Family Incomes

United Future wants parents to be able to split their incomes for tax purposes.

Speaking in Hamilton today, United Future leader, Hon Peter Dunne, said income splitting was a practical and fair step that could be taken to allow families to minimise their tax liabilities and increase their household disposable income.

“Income splitting would be especially beneficial for middle income families, or families where one partner’s income way above existing tax thresholds and the other’s way below.”

“It would enable both partners to share their total income between them in a way that would reduce their tax.”

“Income splitting would also help single income families, especially families where the sole income was a high income.”

“What we are saying in essence is that income splitting is a way we can recognise the equal contribution that both parents make to the upbringing of their children, as well as offering some practical relief for often stretched family budgets,” he said.

Mr Dunne said that United Future valued the role and contribution of parents and wanted to remove as many as possible of the economic barriers families faced in bringing up their children.

“We want families to be strong, because ultimately strong families are the key to building strong communities and a cohesive nation,” he said.

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