UK Labour to crack down on tax cheats
UK Labour have promised “all-out war on tax avoidance and evasion”. NZ Labour should follow suit.
tax
Inequality – two excellent pieces
Inequality has been very much in the news recently. Friday saw the publication of two really excellent pieces that between them provide a comprehensive, if depressing overview.
Polity: OECD on inequality and growth
Rob Salmond notes the OECD report saying the West – and New Zealand more than any – have had their growth held back by income inequality. Do we have a government willing to do anything about it?
Polity: What tax would Warren Buffet pay in New Zealand?
With the ritual whining from the right about our tax rates in New Zealand now that Labour given aspects of their alternative budget, it pays to consider what the real tax rates for the wealthy here are. Because of our lack of a capital gains tax, we are in the strange position where we would tax a wealthy investor like Warren Buffet a lot less than he is in the USA. Thats outrageous.
NRT: Inequality is bad for growth
No Right Turn succinctly points out the impact of the International Monetary Fund changing its mind on the adverse effects of inequality in the economic sphere. A case of an accumulation of facts overriding dumb ideology.
Gini: A Measure of Inequality
In my previous post on how a UBI would address inequality, it turns out I figured out something that is already known as a measure of inequality called the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve. A lower Gini coefficient is better and represents a more equal society. It is a recognised way of measuring and comparing inequality between countries, changes in equality overtime and for the effects of taxation proposals. Looking at it for NZ shows the effects of the last 30 years of neoliberal “reform”.
The benefit fraud card
Dithering Nats
Changes to the tax rules that kick in today reverse two decisions made earlier by the government. Dither dither dither.
Dumping on Dunne’s taxes
The Nats are in trouble with their budget deficits and looking to raise money via increased taxes. But they are tinkering at the edges of the problem, and were quick to chuck Peter Dunne under the bus when the latest proposals didn’t fly.
Brilliant policy
I’ve got to stay that I stand in awe of this latest tax policy suggestion from the IRD. Simple, fair, easy to implement, it will be wildly popular. I think the Nats should adopt it at once.
The fiscal hole
David Parker has drawn attention to a steadily growing $1 Billion hole in projected tax income. That gap, and the stalled economy which underlies the problem, are not going to be fixed by John Key acting like an angry chimp in parliament, flinging insults out of his cage.
NRT: Taking on our local tax cheats
I/S at No Right Turn asks why the government is letting rich multinational companies get away with exploiting tax loopholes. Here’s an idea – close the loopholes and spend the revenue on schools.
Herald promotes cheating and tax evasion
I was surprised this weekend to see The Herald come out with a strongly stated piece in favour of cheating and tax evasion.
Taxing the super-rich
The Nats like bang on about benefit fraud, are they just as keen to go after tax evasion by the super-rich?
English on the economic turmoil
As most of the headlines this morning focus on the crumbling world economy, it was interesting to hear Bill English on RNZ. Among various inane comments there was one interesting gem, when English called for higher taxes…
Tax Working Groupthink
The Tax Working Group’s summary presentation at their December seminar came from a senior partner from one of the Big 4 accountancy firms, […]
“An indecent assault on numeracy”
Over at Public Address Keith Ng has a great post up on Labour and National’s tax regimes. Pretty graphs, accessible analysis and a […]
Who’s zooming who?
The Herald reports: Last week John Key used poor United States sales of the new BMW 7-series – 10 were sold in February, […]
Running the lines
No surprise to see The Herald editorial still running National’s lines. Now that Key’s equivocating on National’s planned tax cuts Granny’s right in […]
Even Granny’s patience can wear thin
With a loving smack that would have brought a smile to Bob McCoskrie’s face, the Herald‘s editorial today rebukes John Key in the […]
Commentators on the Budget
From John Armstrong in The Herald: Is it enough? Michael Cullen has given it his best shot. He has been about as generous […]
On the distribution of income
See that line that says minimum wage? Nearly half of kiwis earn less than that. Seven months ago, that was me. I was […]
ACT: tax cuts for the rich, please
Rodney Hide is calling for the Budget’s tax cuts to take the form of raising the thresholds to account for inflation since 1999, […]
Put it on the kids’ tab
Some may have noted an odd series of questions in Parliament and press releases from Bill English around government borrowing over the last […]
7 reasons why cutting GST on food will not help
Scrapping GST is a classic, populist issue that sounds delicious in times of high food prices but at closer inspection – it doesn’t […]
Dunne: feathering his own nest
Peter Dunne is once again touting his plans to introduce income splitting. It’s a policy aimed at helping out the wealthy. New Zealand […]
I’ve got a solution, what’s the problem?
The junior doctors’ strike is a difficult issue. On the one hand, these are highly valuable workers whom we can’t afford to lose […]
National’s tax cut dilemma
If National are so keen to cut taxes and so critical of the Government for not doing so earlier, why are they being […]
The 50 cent tax cut
This morning on Breakfast, John Key repeated his line that capping the size of the core public service (that includes planning staff for health, […]
It’s your fault I keep saying contradictory things
Regular readers will remember that one of John Key’s excuses for he ‘we would love to see wages drop‘ quote was that the […]
Counting our collective coin
Check out this groovy little gadget. You put your money in the slot and it gets counted, with the power of ‘digital’! Maybe […]
Tax cuts = no rise in the minimum wage?
From the ABC site: “A peak business group says the Federal Government’s promised tax cuts should be taken into account when deciding on […]
Dolla Dolla Bill, Y’all
Days after saying ‘we’ve always said, we aren’t that worried about, um, whether the Crown needs to borrow a bit of money [for […]
Protecting New Zealand’s assets
The government has made a series of moves to prevent strategic New Zealand assets being exploited by foreign companies. Last week tax law […]
What’s the future of Working for Families?
One consquence of the expectations around tax cuts is an examination of some of the policies already have in place – Working for […]
John Key’s plan to cut your pay
“We would love to see wages drop”. You would think that given the simmering debate about our wage gap with Australia at the […]