The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling for the sacking of Inland Revenue bosses responsible for costly delays in transferring Kiwisaver contributions to fund managers, saying the poor performance ‘undermines’ Kiwisaver.

Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “This is not Inland Revenue’s money. The money belongs to taxpayers who surrender it to Inland Revenue with the explicit expectation it will accrue interest in Kiwisaver.”“If someone misses out on $100 in interest due to Inland Revenue’s delays, that could translate to more than $4000 lost in compound interest after 40 years.”

“Affected contributors will be left frustrated and wondering why they should use Kiwisaver, when they could cut out the middleman by placing their wages directly into a managed fund.”

“If a private investment service was found to be betraying its clients in this way, heads would roll and the FMA would be investigating. Someone needs to take the fall at Inland Revenue to send a signal to other managers that poor performance is not tolerated.”

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