11-06-2023, 06:56 PM
The Greens unveiled their wealth tax earlier; approximately 2 milliseconds later, the Nats started finger pointing & proclaiming loudly 'politics of envy' thus revealing to the entire country their complete & utter lack of even basic understanding of how difficult daily life now is for many in this country.
They either ignore or do not comprehend that across the country parents tend to go hungry sometimes in order to feed their kids; ignore or don't understand that for some the 'choice' comes down to whether to pay rent & keep the roof over their heads, or buy groceries.
Realistically, this could more accurately be called 'the politics of fairness'.
I'm wondering just what might happen if every last person now affected by poverty to some extent was to vote Green in the next election.
I'm not certain but I'm reasonably sure that there are more of us now struggling than there are wealthy people...
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...6AwhaB4V4s
The data is striking: of the 201,100 trusts that filed returns for the 2021-22 income year, 149,500 disclosed an astonishing $469 billion in assets - $3.1 million on average.
Those trusts also have $160b in liabilities, leaving a net $309b in equity - an average of $2m per trust.
That’s almost as much as New Zealand’s entire GDP, which is about $390b this year, and compares favourably with the assets owned by the Government, which were worth $519.2b this year.
On Sunday morning, the Green party will march into Grey Lynn, the heart of New Zealand’s capital-gains economy, to unveil its wealth and income policy. It includes a massive overhaul of the way the Government handles income support, using tools like working for families to lift minimum incomes. It will lift the minimum income that everyone from individuals to families has to live on.
The expensive change will be paid for by taxing the assets held by New Zealand’s wealthiest few, better known as a wealth tax.
The Green Party’s revenue spokeswoman Chlöe Swarbrick said, “wealth in Aotearoa is concentrated in the back pockets of a wealthy few. It’s time we get on and fix this”.
Swarbrick said the trust data “reveals the enormous level of wealth hidden in trusts”.
She is concerned people are stashing their money in trusts for tax purposes, taking advantage of the fact the trust tax was 33 per cent - lower than the 39 per cent top income tax rate.
“Trusts and their contents should not just be the focus of Parliament when there are political points to be scored, such as this week, but as requiring transparency in a fair tax system and economy,” Swarbrick said."
They either ignore or do not comprehend that across the country parents tend to go hungry sometimes in order to feed their kids; ignore or don't understand that for some the 'choice' comes down to whether to pay rent & keep the roof over their heads, or buy groceries.
Realistically, this could more accurately be called 'the politics of fairness'.
I'm wondering just what might happen if every last person now affected by poverty to some extent was to vote Green in the next election.
I'm not certain but I'm reasonably sure that there are more of us now struggling than there are wealthy people...
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...6AwhaB4V4s
"A small number of New Zealanders have hundreds of billions of dollars in assets stashed in trusts, the New Zealand Herald has revealed.
It comes as the Green Party moves to reopen one of the most contentious topics of the 2020 election: whether New Zealand needs to begin taxing wealth. With Labour having almost no choice but to govern with the Greens after the election, a Green Party wealth tax will likely be one of the defining topics of the election.The data is striking: of the 201,100 trusts that filed returns for the 2021-22 income year, 149,500 disclosed an astonishing $469 billion in assets - $3.1 million on average.
Those trusts also have $160b in liabilities, leaving a net $309b in equity - an average of $2m per trust.
That’s almost as much as New Zealand’s entire GDP, which is about $390b this year, and compares favourably with the assets owned by the Government, which were worth $519.2b this year.
But the golden age of stashing vast sums of money in trusts, or indeed anywhere, may be over, with the Green Party set to unveil a wealth tax to take to the 2023 election.
On Sunday morning, the Green party will march into Grey Lynn, the heart of New Zealand’s capital-gains economy, to unveil its wealth and income policy. It includes a massive overhaul of the way the Government handles income support, using tools like working for families to lift minimum incomes. It will lift the minimum income that everyone from individuals to families has to live on.
The expensive change will be paid for by taxing the assets held by New Zealand’s wealthiest few, better known as a wealth tax.
The Green Party’s revenue spokeswoman Chlöe Swarbrick said, “wealth in Aotearoa is concentrated in the back pockets of a wealthy few. It’s time we get on and fix this”.
Hipkins will almost certainly need the help of the Greens and Te Pāti Māori to form a government after the election. Both parties have backed a wealth tax in the past.
Swarbrick said the trust data “reveals the enormous level of wealth hidden in trusts”.
She is concerned people are stashing their money in trusts for tax purposes, taking advantage of the fact the trust tax was 33 per cent - lower than the 39 per cent top income tax rate.
“Trusts and their contents should not just be the focus of Parliament when there are political points to be scored, such as this week, but as requiring transparency in a fair tax system and economy,” Swarbrick said."
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)