The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign welcomes the Green Party’s alternative budget released today, for recognising the need to grow revenue and ensuring that those who can afford it get to contribute more.

“The Green Budget recognises that we face enormous challenges as a country and we need to fund government better in order to respond to them,” says Glenn Barclay, spokesperson for the Better Taxes Campaign.

“They also promote a range of new taxes that will help ensure that we all contribute according to our ability to pay.”

“When compared to other countries like Denmark, Germany, Austria and France we are a low tax country. At the same time we face growing inequality, an enormous infrastructure deficit, the challenges of climate change, health services that are in crisis and public services that are struggling to cope. The need to increase government revenue is urgent,” says Glenn Barclay.

The Green’s proposals include a wealth tax, a more progressive income tax (including a tax free threshold), reversing interest deductibility for rental properties, and raising the tax on corporations. The Green Budget stops short of introducing a full capital gains tax but restores the Bright Line Test for taxing the capital gains on housing to 10 years.

“These changes are important steps towards a more progressive tax system. They would help address the sources of inequality in our tax system while raising more revenue,” says Glenn Barclay.

“The lack of a full capital gains tax is interesting and we would like to better understand the rationale for this, but we do welcome the restoration of the Bright Line Test as a step in the right direction.”

“In many ways we are outliers when you look at countries we like to compare ourselves to and most of these initiatives will just bring us into line with them”.

“We would also encourage all parties to consider tax system reforms to ensure that multinational companies operating in New Zealand are not escaping paying tax and improve tax transparency for more effective and efficient revenue gathering.”

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