Media Release

24 October 2001

Tax Review Has Missed The Boat-- Peters

New Zealand First Leader, Rt Hon Winston Peters, says that the tax review has missed the boat on the place of tax in New Zealand’s economic development.

“The review has taken the typical Treasury view that lowering taxes is the panacea in economic development. New Zealand First believes that taxes are too high and need to come down over time, but does not believe in the kind of blind rhetoric espoused in this report,” said Mr Peters.

“The report has not given close enough attention to the idea of research and development or to an incentive-based tax structure for exporting.

“We are pleased to see that New Zealand First’s concerns over international tax deals, like those seen in the Winebox, are finally being taken seriously. We will be reviewing those recommendations. We do not believe that a reduction in income tax to foreigners to 18% is the sole answer, we need a far more targeted outlook aimed at the research, new technologies and export sectors.

“There are serious structural problems that must be addressed now before we can look at simply lowering the highest tax bracket. We have serious education, health and savings demands that need to be addressed before that can be accomplished,” concluded Mr Peters.

ENDS

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