Cullen's Regime: Welfare For The 'Wealthy'

ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader Heather Roy today released new information revealing that 2,000 New Zealanders deemed so wealthy that they were required to pay the top rate of tax were then granted financial assistance from the Government.

"Dr Cullen has often claimed that only the wealthy will have to pay the top tax rate of 39 percent - yet answers to my written Parliamentary Questions show that, during the 2005/06 financial year, 2,000 of those so-called wealthy Kiwis were also parents in families receiving assistance through the Working For Families package," Mrs Roy said.

"Dr Cullen needs to make up his mind: either those earning over $60,000 are wealthy enough to pay the top rate of tax, or they are not and are instead genuinely in need of financial aid.

"It will come as a surprise to many Kiwis earning $60,000, $70,000 or even $80,000 a year - a group that includes some nurses, teachers and trades workers - that they are wealthy.

"The Working For Families package was designed to provide a top-up for lower to middle-income working families. Meanwhile, the top tax rate - according to Dr Cullen in 1999 - would only be paid by the top five percent of income earners. One would not usually expect high income earners to require financial assistance.

"ACT's view is that they do deserve this money, but should be receiving it in the form of a tax cut - which would have the added advantage of not costing a fortune in bureaucracy, or time wasted on applications and eligibility assessments," Mrs Roy said.

ENDS

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