Labour Fleeces Public With Inflation

Tuesday 14 Sep 2004

Ken Shirley - Press Releases - Taxation

ACT New Zealand MP Ken Shirley today accused the Government of using inflation to fleece the New Zealand public, after new information obtained from Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen revealed that the annual gift duty threshold has not been adjusted since 1984.

"Answers to my written Parliamentary Questions show that, if the current threshold of $27,000 had been adjusted for movement in the Consumers Price Index, then it would now be $66,000," Mr Shirley said.

"This means that the Government is taking millions of dollars more from taxpayers than it would if these thresholds had been adjusted to inflation.

"The original gift duty regime was introduced in 1910 at 500 pounds for a six-month period. If that figure had been adjusted consistently for inflation, the threshold today would stand at $132,000.

"Another example the Government rorting taxpayers with inflation is its failure to adjust the tax brackets. Taxpayers now pay 39 cents tax on every dollar earned over $60,000. When Labour increased the top tax bracket from 33 cents to 39 cents, it promised that only five percent of the taxpaying population would be affected.

"We now know that 10 percent of taxpayers are caught by that change, and the Labour Government's pledge is nothing but an empty promise," Mr Shirley said.

ENDS

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