Prime Minister and Finance Minister slippery on tax

The New Zealand National Party

While National has committed to no new taxes for Kiwis in our first term, both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are being slippery on whether Labour will increase taxes or not, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“In Parliament today, Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson were refusing to rule out increases to personal income taxes. We know they’re desperate for higher taxes to pay for some of their spending.

“That should be concerning to all hard working Kiwis and businesses who risk being whacked with higher taxes if Labour are elected for another three years.

“Today they’ve increased fuel taxes – a clear signal that they see no problem with stinging New Zealand households and businesses with higher taxes in the middle of an economic crisis.

“Labour plans on spending as much as it takes in an attempt to keep their poll numbers high until the election, and on September 20 the smiles will drop and New Zealanders will be presented with the bill.

“National has a very different approach.

“We will ensure all new spending is high-quality and promotes economic growth – and unlike Labour we won’t be afraid to make hard decisions about eliminating wasteful spending.

“Higher economic growth, and a more disciplined approach to spending, is the best way to keep debt manageable – not the Labour-Green’s approach of higher taxes.

“National’s policy is clear – we won’t introduce any new taxes in our first term.

“We know that what businesses need now is confidence to invest and create more jobs, not higher taxes.”

/Public Release. View in full here.