Mana seeks apology from National for misleading voters on tax

Mana is challenging John Key to front up and apologise to New Zealanders for National's misleading election material about the percentage of tax paid by New Zealanders

In their election handouts shoved into every letterbox in the country National claims that three-quarters of New Zealanders now pay a top personal tax rate of 17.5%.

MANA economic justice spokesperson John Minto says this is a carefully constructed lie because it airbrushes out GST which hits those on low incomes the hardest.

"The awful truth is that when GST is factored in those on the lowest incomes in New Zealand are now paying the same tax rate as those (such as Prime Minister John Key and all our politicians) in the top 10% of income earners.

"A person earning less than $3000 per year is paying the same 26.5% of their income in tax as the top 10% of earners on over $87,000.

Bottom 10% of income earners (less than $3000)

Top 10% of income earners (above $87,000)

Percentage of total income paid in personal income tax

12.5%

22.5%

Percentage of total income paid on GST

14%

4%

Total % of income going to tax

26.5%

26.5%

"New Zealand now has effectively a flat tax structure on incomes thanks to the distorting effect of GST. Our tax system has become so debased and abused that the tax burden now falls hardest on those least able to pay."

Mr Minto says Mana will reverse this taxation perversion by abolishing GST and replacing it with a Financial Transactions Tax which will shift the burden from those on low incomes to high income earners among the corporate elites.

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