After saying she wouldn’t give tax cuts to people who didn’t need them, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Government has done a 180-degree turn on her pledge with its latest tax on cars, ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.
“The Government’s tax policy is making less and less sense by the day.
“The first thing it did was cancel ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾’s tax cuts because the Prime Minister said they would benefit well-off New Zealanders too much.
“So why is her Government now taxing Kiwis who can’t afford to buy a $65,000 BMW i3 or a $65,000 Volkswagen e-Golf, just so wealthier people can drive them around town?
“It’s not the first head-scratcher we’ve seen from this Government on tax. It also offered to give wealthier New Zealanders a helping hand by paying their university fees.
“At the same time, it has hit struggling New Zealanders with three fuel tax increases on top of a regional fuel tax in Auckland, a tax on most things they buy from overseas websites (Amazon Tax), a tax on their cellphones (GST on mobile roaming) and it has increased Worksafe levies.
“Kiwi households were already, on average, $1750 a year worse off because of taxes being piled on by the Labour-led Government. Now its car tax will make many of New Zealand’s most popular, and safest, cars up to $3000 more expensive.
“Labour can’t be trusted when it comes to tax. ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ will index tax thresholds to the cost of living and won’t introduce any new taxes in our first term.
“³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ believes New Zealanders should keep more of what they earn.”
