8 October 2012
Dunne evades tax haven questions
Peter Dunne’s relaxed attitude to wealthy foreigners using New Zealand as a tax haven is in stark contrast to his
crackdown on paper boys and workers with car parks, says Labour’s Revenue spokesperson David Clark.
“The number of foreign trusts based here for overseas billionaires to get away tax free has almost doubled since
National came to power.
“There is a serious ethical issue here. These people, who are often rich families in poor countries, aren’t paying their
fair share. That’s not something New Zealand should be supporting. It’s not the Kiwi way.
“This is the same attitude they have to wealthy New Zealanders avoiding tax. The Government isn’t worried about wealthy
Kiwis or foreigners not paying their fair share. Labour will ensure everyone pays what they owe.
“Revenue Minister Peter Dunne is far too relaxed and hands-off about the wealthy paying their fair share. He seems to
have caught the ‘nothing I can do’ disease from his National colleagues. To attempt to explain away this dubious
practice as ‘legitimate tax avoidance’ as he did on 60 Minutes and say there’s nothing he can do is simply not on.
“National has forced the ordinary New Zealander to carry the can for our economic troubles by cutting spending and
scratching around for new things to tax, the latest wheeze being car parks. It sticks in the craw to see overseas
billionaires using this country to avoid paying taxes.
“We are in danger of losing our hard-one reputation as an ethical and respectable country. Peter Dunne’s relaxed
attitude to overseas tax avoidance and National’s failed attempts to create a foreign funds hub shows the Government has
no concerns about us becoming the Cayman Islands of the South Pacific,” says David Clark.
ends