Face of the Day

> ACT leader David Seymour says the Green Party’s newly announced tax policy seeks to take the “dark underbelly of New Zealand’s otherwise happy culture” and make it “official government policy”. > > The Green Party’s policy includes more than $32 billion of new revenue over four years, driven by a new “super-rich tax” and an inheritance and gifts tax, lifting the corporate tax rate for some and reversing coalition changes to interest deductibility. > > The Greens are promising that the party’s proposed changes to income tax rates will result in everyone earning under $160,000 receiving a tax cut. > > Speaking after the policy announcement, Seymour said even inheritance would no longer be “sacred”. > > “The Green Party are not joking when they say they are going to tax you even after death with an inheritance tax,” he said. > > “That flies in the face of what most New Zealanders work for through their lives – to leave something for their children to have a better life than they had had.” > > The Greens policy includes a 33 per cent tax on inheritance or gifts valued above $1 million, although family farms and the family home would be exempt. > > The person receiving the inheritance or gift would pay the tax and it’s estimated to hit approximately 1100 people a year. It would make $4.1b over four years. > > At the same time, the party would change income tax by introducing a $10,000 tax-free threshold followed by adjustments to the rest of the tax brackets, with a new 45 per cent threshold for income over $160,000. > > Seymour claimed the Greens’ policies created a “culture that opposes success” and told people that if they have done well, they are “fair game”. > > “We actually need more success, more billion-dollar companies, more high-paying jobs, more experts and more people prepared to take a risk. > > “The real greed is wanting to go to the ballot box and vote to be given other people’s money at their expense.” > > NZ Herald Read More