Gordon Campbell: On Wealth Taxes And Capital Flight
In the wake of the Greens' alternative Budget – and the criticism levelled at it – it seems pretty obvious that when it comes to tax policy, Labour's only election campaign concession to left wing voters is going to be a capital gains tax (CGT). A wealth tax is not on the cards. Yet in the run-up to next year's election, even a CGT is going to be demonised as a plunge into radicalism. It is a sign of just how restrictive the politics of progressive taxation are in New Zealand.
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Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Rally outside minister's meeting in Christchurch
By Joe Shaw of RNZ Protesters have rallied against the government's pay-equity legislation at a post-Budget business lunch attended by Finance Minister Nicola Willis in Christchurch. About 50 people chanted, waved banners and flags, and yelled through megaphones, as Willis entered the Addington Raceway event centre to speak to Canterbury business leaders today. Budget documents revealed the tightening of the pay-equity regime - passed under urgency in early May - would net the government $2.7 billion every year or $12.8 billion in total over the next four years. The changes mean workers now face a higher threshold to prove they are being underpaid due to sex discrimination. Thirty-three claims being negotiated will have to restart the process. Public Service Association delegate and library worker Sioniann Byrnes, who is on parental leave, said the changes were an attack on the working class. "The library assistant pay equity claim was one of the 33 that was basically stopped in it's tracks," she said. "I think what they've done is shafted a whole lot of people, who've done a lot of robust work to try and fix pay and equity that has been going on for a long time. "I think it is frankly disgusting." Byrnes hoped her four-month-old daughter, whom she was holding at the time, would not have to deal with the issue of pay equity in future. E tū delegate Keri Makiri was concerned about the effect of the legislation on partner, two taimaiti (children) and four mokopuna (grandchildren). "The changes are absolutely diabolical and rip the hearts out of lower-paid workers," he said. New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate and nurse Maree Vincent was rallying for not just the pay-equity of nurses, but also for carers and support workers. "'We're back to square one. All we are asking is to be paid the same as our male counterparts in our jobs and the same as our nurses in our hospitals." But inside, the Finance Minister told the audience the savings were significant. "The government remains committed to the concept of pay-equity and, in fact, New Zealand continues to have a legislated, workable pay-equity regime for the raising of pay-equity claims and for the settlement of those claims. "The government itself continues to have funding put aside to settle claims we anticipate will come through in the future." Willis said the pay-equity regime had departed from addressing sex-based discrimination into issues that could be dealt with in normal bargaining rounds. "Without teaching you to suck eggs, pay-equity is different from equal pay. Equal pay is that you and you, if you do the same job, should be paid the same amount. "That concept is protected in law and must always be."
Otago Daily Times
3 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Protesters out in force for Willis visit to Christchurch
By Joe Shaw of RNZ Protesters have rallied against the government's pay-equity legislation at a post-Budget business lunch attended by Finance Minister Nicola Willis in Christchurch. About 50 people chanted, waved banners and flags, and yelled through megaphones, as Willis entered the Addington Raceway event centre to speak to Canterbury business leaders today. Budget documents revealed the tightening of the pay-equity regime - passed under urgency in early May - would net the government $2.7 billion every year or $12.8 billion in total over the next four years. The changes mean workers now face a higher threshold to prove they are being underpaid due to sex discrimination. Thirty-three claims being negotiated will have to restart the process. Public Service Association delegate and library worker Sioniann Byrnes, who is on parental leave, said the changes were an attack on the working class. "The library assistant pay equity claim was one of the 33 that was basically stopped in it's tracks," she said. "I think what they've done is shafted a whole lot of people, who've done a lot of robust work to try and fix pay and equity that has been going on for a long time. "I think it is frankly disgusting." Byrnes hoped her four-month-old daughter, whom she was holding at the time, would not have to deal with the issue of pay equity in future. E tū delegate Keri Makiri was concerned about the effect of the legislation on partner, two taimaiti (children) and four mokopuna (grandchildren). "The changes are absolutely diabolical and rip the hearts out of lower-paid workers," he said. New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate and nurse Maree Vincent was rallying for not just the pay-equity of nurses, but also for carers and support workers. "'We're back to square one. All we are asking is to be paid the same as our male counterparts in our jobs and the same as our nurses in our hospitals." But inside, the Finance Minister told the audience the savings were significant. "The government remains committed to the concept of pay-equity and, in fact, New Zealand continues to have a legislated, workable pay-equity regime for the raising of pay-equity claims and for the settlement of those claims. "The government itself continues to have funding put aside to settle claims we anticipate will come through in the future." Willis said the pay-equity regime had departed from addressing sex-based discrimination into issues that could be dealt with in normal bargaining rounds. "Without teaching you to suck eggs, pay-equity is different from equal pay. Equal pay is that you and you, if you do the same job, should be paid the same amount. "That concept is protected in law and must always be."
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Scoop
Couple Owes $20,000 Working For Families Debt ‘Through No Fault Of Our Own'
Article – RNZ , Money Correspondent Just a quarter of 'squared up' Working for Families recipients are getting the right amount. Phoenix Ruka says he and his wife owe about $18,000 to $20,000 in Working for Families debt, despite always doing their best to ensure that they supplied the correct details about their income and circumstances. 'We've always stayed up-to-date with my salary and what we received from them and updated my salary every time it went up and down,' Ruka said. 'What were receiving was what they assured us we were entitled to. But then we got a massive bill saying they had overpaid us.' He said his wife had been 'relentless' in trying to work out what had happened. It was discovered that a couple of years they had been underpaid, by many thousands of dollars, which they were reimbursed, but one year they were paid too much, which left them with the debt. 'I think the really frustrating part is that it's through no fault of our own. We owe a substantial amount of money. Now they're taking $350 a fortnight out of our bank account,' Ruka said. 'We've gone back and forth and shown them our expenses, that we actually can't afford the amount they're taking. We've shown them our bills, our mortgage – they told us that they can't keep taking money if we can't afford it but we can't.' He said there had been multiple times where the money that was being taken to repay the debt was all that was left in their bank account. It's an issue the government is attempting to tackle with proposed changes to the way that income is assessed for Working for Families. As part of the Budget, it was announced that the threshold at which entitlements start to abate was to be increased slightly, and the government would look at options to help avoid the issue of Working for Families debt. Inland Revenue's discussion document said 85 percent of Working for Families households received their payments weekly or fortnightly during the 2022 tax year, based on an income estimate. Only 15 percent were receiving their credits annual based on the family's actual income once income tax had been assessed. Those who were being paid weekly or fortnightly were subject to an end of year 'square up' process by Inland Revenue, the document noted, although they were expected to update IRD with any relevant changes during the year. In the 2022 year, only 24 percent of households receiving weekly or fortnightly payments and squared up by IRD had received the right amount of Working for Families credits. Those who were overpaid are left with a debt to repay. The document said debt was a particular problem for low- and middle-income families because it reduced their ability to meet their day to day costs in the future. 'Debt undermines the intent of the Working for Families scheme to support low to middle income families to meet basic needs and incentivise work.' The amount owed by Working for Families recipients has been steadily increasing over the years. The document noted that in June 2024, 56,800 accounted for $273.5 million of Working for Families debt. There were 21,418 instalment arrangements in place to clear $50 million of debt. 'Having to estimate annual income in advance is the most common reason why families do not receive the right amount during the year,' the document said. 'For many families, estimating yearly income is difficult to do with any accuracy. Under the current income estimation model, families can still be overpaid when their income increases unexpectedly. For example, something as simple as a promotion or starting a new job towards the end of the year could cancel out their Working for Families entitlement and leave them in debt.' But the document said assessing people's income very regularly could mean a lot of changes in what people received. If someone was paid fortnightly, some months could have two paydays and some three. Someone who was paid every four weeks would occasionally be paid twice in one month. 'Families would need to check in more often to report or confirm their income so that Inland Revenue can recalculate their payments. This would mean an increase in time spent interacting with Inland Revenue and its systems. This could also mean payments would vary every week or month, making it harder for families to budget and plan.' The discussion document said the government's current thinking was that a quarterly assessment could strike the right balance between responsiveness, certainty and recipient effort. It was seeking feedback on the idea. The government also suggests a shift from calculating a recipient's Working for Families on the recipient's estimate of future income over the coming year to basing the calculation on past income they actually received. This would help to prevent people going into debt. It is also proposing to simplify the residence criteria for Working for Families and require both caregivers and children to be physically present in New Zealand to qualify. Susan St John, associate professor at the University of Auckland and Child Poverty Action Group spokesperson, said she thought the review was limited. 'There are huge difficulties for self-employed in more regular assessment. For income that is not earned regularly it can cause volatility and add to the admin or compliance load. There are other ways – in Australia they hold a portion back until the end of the year.' She said the review did not address the problems of Working for Families in a meaningful way. 'They arise because the threshold is way too low and the rates of clawback way too high.' She said the scheme was confusing with the different types of credits available, and the poorest 200,000 were excluded from the full package, missing out on about $5000 a year. Revenue Minister Simon Watts said the government knew that it could be distressing to have debt to Inland Revenue. 'We are interested in what people think of the proposals.' Another woman, Amy says she's still paying off the $12,000 in Working for Families debt she was landed with three years ago, amid a messy divorce. She and her husband were shareholders in a business and, she says, he incorrectly reported some of the business profit as income in her name. That prompted the government to think she had been overpaid credit and she was landed with a bill. She now can only receive $172 a week in Working for Families credits for her three children because she is paying back the debt. She is a single parent also paying a mortgage.
