Tax Cuts?

Monday, 25 March 2024, 2:23 pm
Press Release: Keith Rankin

Do we need real income-tax cuts this year? Probably not.

Do we need nominal income-tax cuts? Yes, we do.

The government should go ahead with its proposed tax cuts, but only to low- and middle-income earners.

The tax cuts should compensate for the inflationary component of the cost-of-living crisis. But high-income earners – eg people receiving incomes in excess of $160,000 per year – should be willing to make a small sacrifice for the greater good.

To do this, the government – if it wants to be re-elected, and if it wants to do the right thing – should go ahead with its tax reduction policy; as per the National Party 2023 election campaign promise, but with one proviso.

The government should lower the top tax threshold of $180,000 to about $160,000.

Keith Rankin (keith at rankin dot nz), trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Keith Rankin

Political Economist, Scoop Columnist

Keith Rankin taught economics at Unitec in Mt Albert since 1999. An economic historian by training, his research has included an analysis of labour supply in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has included estimates of New Zealand's GNP going back to the 1850s.

Keith believes that many of the economic issues that beguile us cannot be understood by relying on the orthodox interpretations of our social science disciplines. Keith favours a critical approach that emphasises new perspectives rather than simply opposing those practices and policies that we don't like.

Keith retired in 2020 and lives with his family in Glen Eden, Auckland.

Contact Keith Rankin

• Website - Kieth Rankin