“David Parker is defining unrealised capital gains as income so he can create a better case for his beloved CGT. His fishing expedition wasn’t about gathering information, it was about creating a narrative that he can ride to more taxes on Kiwis,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Unrealised capital gains are profits that exist on paper in the theoretical possibility the assets are sold, but not in reality. the report can’t be taken seriously if hung off such a concept.

“As Winston Churchill once said “for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” New Zealand will never tackle it’s many problems if the Government’s only solution is to make Kiwis poorer.

“As ACT predicted, David Parker’s study was a politically-driven fishing expedition to find people with money and take it from them.

“A recent report from Oliver Shaw noted that less than two per cent of taxpayers pay a massive 9.3 per cent of income tax.

“There are major problems in New Zealand society; health, education, roading infrastructure – the Government is spending a billion dollars a week more than when Labour entered office and all of these areas have gotten worse and worse. The issue isn’t tax revenue, it’s wasteful government spending.

“We tell kids to listen to their teacher, work hard, get good grades so they can get good jobs, save their money and invest wisely. Labour says if you do all that we’ll tax you harder. It is tall poppy syndrome in the tax code.

“That’s why ACT would reduce government expenditure, and in turn reduce the amount of money the government takes from hardworking Kiwis. For example, a nurse with one child earning $70k will keep around $2,300 more of their income with ACT’s policies.

“We will repeal any taxes proposed by Labour, we will get rid of National’s capital gains tax in the bright-line test, we will cut the 30 percent marginal tax rate to 17.5 percent, we will reverse the 39 percent tax rate and we will reverse the Government’s interest deductibility change.

“ACT would arrest the decline and grow the economy. It would get the country back into surplus and allow New Zealanders to keep more of their income to invest.

“We need to put the values of aspiration in our tax system, making it fairer, simpler and more competitive. It’s not only possible, it’s essential.”

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