Advisory: "We need to talk about tax" - PSA launching Progressive Thinking on tax booklet

Source: PSA

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WHAT: The Budget week launch of the Progressive Thinking: ten perspectives on tax booklet, which features ten leading authors, academics and campaigners writing journalistically on a broad range of topics in tax theory and policy, including contributions from Max Rashbrooke, Susan St John, Shamubeel Eaqub, Morgan Godfery and more.

WHEN: Monday 22 May, 12:30 - 1:30pm

WHERE: Level 6, PSA House, Aurora Terrace, Wellington

The launch event will feature a discussion with several of the authors of the articles, moderated by Michael Macaulay, Associate Professor at Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Government.

WHY: We need to talk about tax. With tax cuts apparently on the table again in this year’s Budget, we want to return the discussion to the important issues for most New Zealand workers and taxpayers that are often forgotten during all the talk of ‘burdens’ and ‘reliefs’: why we pay tax, what our taxes are paying for, and whether New Zealand’s tax system is fair and robust enough to adequately fund the crucial public services we depend on.

Over the ten chapters in this booklet, contributors consider everything from tax myths and political promises to specific measures for taxation on wealth and carbon emissions; from family assistance and inequality to social contract theory and tax avoidance. We also include primers on New Zealand’s history of tax policy and our relative taxation in an international context.

This is not about presenting PSA policy to readers, and it is not an argument for or against specific tax policies - for us, releasing this book is about broadening the discussion around tax during this election year, and bringing experts together to consider progressive solutions to some of New Zealand's enduring economic issues.

- Comment from Erin Polaczuk and Glenn Barclay, PSA National Secretaries

CONTENTS:

0. Foreword by Glenn Barclay & Erin Polaczuk, PSA national secretaries

1. Talking tax, with context and all that by Morgan Godfery

2. History of tax policy in New Zealand by Dr Lisa Marriott

3. What my parents taught me about tax (and fairness) by Max Rashbrooke

4. Taxing wealth by Bill Rosenberg

5. Four tax myths that might pop up this year by Keith Ng

6. Tax and the Social Contract by Bob Stephens

7. Climate change and tax policy by Paul Young

8. New Zealand’s tax settings in an international context by Terry Baucher

9. Tax and family assistance by Susan St John

10. A light touch on foreign trusts and companies by Shamubeel Eaqub

ENDS

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