08-08-2023, 02:51 PM
The now not-so-recent "tax" report appears to have included capital assets in measuring how much tax is "fair". Even though that means that anyone who owns land to grow food is considered "wealthy" even if their day to day income/outgoing leaves them struggling. That is simply NOT fair.
What is fair is income tax. And in the main I think you will find that people pay what is required. Even if for no better reason than it's hard not to. Some tweaking of the levels would be good to reduce tax for the lowest income earners to give them some ability and incentive to move forward and to pull the cost of that from the higher income earners to balance it out. Overall the fairest tax of all is GST - less of it paid by those who don't buy much because they can't, and the most paid by those who buy expensive toys because they can.
For the proposal for free dental care - it would be ideal if that could be achieved. Dental health is a very important part of general health and people miss out on essential surgery or even die because their teeth/gums are unhealthy. But the implementation of a change is complex and needs to be one step at a time. I would start with subsidised checkups and fillings like we currently have for GP visits, then move it forward a step at a time.
The idea that a "wealth tax" would pay for it is pretty laughable. Partly because Labour have already ruled it out, even though their proposal sounded a lot fairer than many others (not that any tax on unrealised capital could be fair and/or good for the economy). The Green's proposal would see many sectors severely disadvantaged - ie anyone who grows food, the "mum and dad" property investors, etc - and people needing the dental care subsidy to survive as the tax will have taken all their income and everything they worked for. Some would be able to sell up, taking houses out of the rental market or opening up land for development, but those options stuff up the balance of the economy, and those forced into that position are likely to end up with money sitting in the bank, costing nearly as much tax as the interest accrued.
The best way to move forward is to stimulate the economy, get people working and spending and therefore paying more tax that way. And of course to prioritise and balance where and how the public money is spent, which is what ACT is trying to push for. They are too small a party to have a huge impact, but balanced with National could achieve some steps in the right direction.
What is fair is income tax. And in the main I think you will find that people pay what is required. Even if for no better reason than it's hard not to. Some tweaking of the levels would be good to reduce tax for the lowest income earners to give them some ability and incentive to move forward and to pull the cost of that from the higher income earners to balance it out. Overall the fairest tax of all is GST - less of it paid by those who don't buy much because they can't, and the most paid by those who buy expensive toys because they can.
For the proposal for free dental care - it would be ideal if that could be achieved. Dental health is a very important part of general health and people miss out on essential surgery or even die because their teeth/gums are unhealthy. But the implementation of a change is complex and needs to be one step at a time. I would start with subsidised checkups and fillings like we currently have for GP visits, then move it forward a step at a time.
The idea that a "wealth tax" would pay for it is pretty laughable. Partly because Labour have already ruled it out, even though their proposal sounded a lot fairer than many others (not that any tax on unrealised capital could be fair and/or good for the economy). The Green's proposal would see many sectors severely disadvantaged - ie anyone who grows food, the "mum and dad" property investors, etc - and people needing the dental care subsidy to survive as the tax will have taken all their income and everything they worked for. Some would be able to sell up, taking houses out of the rental market or opening up land for development, but those options stuff up the balance of the economy, and those forced into that position are likely to end up with money sitting in the bank, costing nearly as much tax as the interest accrued.
The best way to move forward is to stimulate the economy, get people working and spending and therefore paying more tax that way. And of course to prioritise and balance where and how the public money is spent, which is what ACT is trying to push for. They are too small a party to have a huge impact, but balanced with National could achieve some steps in the right direction.