EXCLUSIVE POLLING: National voters demand a no-tax-hikes promise

The latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Issue Poll shows National voters overwhelmingly want the party to draw a clear line in the sand on tax:

• 58 percent of voters want National to promise no new taxes or tax increases, compared to just 25 percent who oppose.
• 76 percent of National voters want them to make the same promise, with just 16 percent opposed. 
• 65 percent of voters want income tax brackets indexed to inflation, and just 16 percent are opposed. 
• 74 percent of National voters support indexation, with just 14 percent opposed. Voters of all parties support indexation.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:

“National voters aren’t asking for a tax-policy choose-your-own-adventure. They want a simple promise: no new taxes and no tax hikes. Three quarters of National voters support it, and majorities of Labour, ACT, New Zealand First and Te Pāti Māori voters agree.”

“National can’t have it both ways. You can’t campaign against Labour’s tax hikes while leaving yourself a giant escape hatch for raising taxes on ‘someone else’. Every qualification makes voters wonder which tax is next.”

“And ‘no new taxes on working people’ must include the inflation tax. Sixty-five percent of voters support indexing income tax brackets to inflation, including seventy-four percent of National voters. Bracket creep is a tax hike by stealth: when your pay only keeps up with inflation, you’re no richer, but the Government quietly takes a bigger slice anyway.”

“The choice for National is brutally simple: cut the spending or keep reaching into taxpayers’ pockets. Voters have made it pretty clear which one they want.”

The full results can be found at: https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/poll_no_new_taxes