The Taxpayers’ Union is celebrating that a policy it has pushed for since 2014 has been adopted by the Government.
 
Jordan Williams, the Executive Director of the Taxpayers’ Union, says:
 
“Since we launched our election ‘Bribe-O-Meter’ we have argued that New Zealand needs an independent election policy costing office.  This increases transparency, improves democracy, and helps prevent politicians and parties from getting away with pulling numbers from thin air.”
 
“Shortly after our lobbying, the Green Party picked up the idea, and today the Government formally announced public consultation on establishing an independent body to provide parties and the public non-partisan costings on their policies.”
 
“It’s not often the Taxpayers’ Union loudly endorses new spending initiatives, but here it will be difficult to find any taxpayer who will disagree with this initiative.

The Taxpayers’ Union is fuming that Minister for Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods has broken her word and capitulated to Callaghan Innovation’s pressure to keep its precious corporate welfare grant schemes, rather than phasing them out in favour of the new R&D tax credit.

Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “When Minister Woods announced Labour’s R&D tax credit scheme earlier in the year, she said it would replace the growth grant scheme administered by Callaghan Innovation. But buried in the Budget appropriations we see that Callaghan Innovation’s funding for corporate welfare hasn’t been cut by a cent. Not even one.”

“Megan Woods has let down taxpayers, and we will be working day and night to redouble our efforts to defeat this corporate welfare industry that picks winners and favourites, and keeps Callaghan Innovation’s feather-nesters in their taxpayer funded make-work scheme.”

The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the underlying principle in the only tax change announced as part of today’s Budget 2018 to promote economic growth: full capital expensing of bloodstock.
 
“Allowing full expensing of capital investments is the best tax reform no one has heard of,” says the Union’s Economist Joe Ascroft.
 
“This is the rocket Donald Trump has put under the American economy in its recent tax reform.  The economic advice is that it would massively increase business investment in capital and accelerate productivity growth.  Productivity growth is the most relevant factor in determining income growth – the measure will lead to increased wages.”
 
“The obvious question is why the Government would choose to favour just a single industry or special interest?  That’s an outrageous way to run a tax system, and isn’t fair to the hard working employees and employers in other sectors.”
 
Editor’s note: The fiscal impact of full capital expensing is largely temporal. Full expensing pulls forward any existing tax benefits into a single year, rather than increasing the total value of any tax benefits. More information can be found at paragraphs 71 to 77 in the Taxpayers’ Union submission to the Government’s Tax Working Group, available at http://taxpayers.org.nz/twg_submission.

Treasury has ripped off the political veil and exposed the Prime Minister’s flagship ‘free’ tertiary education policy with Budget showing that the numbers in tertiary education set to decline by 900 in the 2018/19 year.
 
Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:
 
“The whole reason the Prime Minister pushed ahead with the billion dollar policy was apparently to increase the numbers accessing tertiary education. That was seen as more important than various other pre-election commitments which were pushed aside.”
 
“The Government wants to spend $1.2 billion a year – $694 per household – on free tertiary fees and the projected impact is 900 fewer students. Is this possibly the most wasteful policy ever?”

From the Budget 2018 lock-up, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming Labour’s adherence to its pre-election ‘fiscal rules’ despite delivering significant Labour-Party style sweeteners in the Budget delivered today.
 
Taxpayers’ Union Chairman, Barrie Saunders, says:
 
“This is a classic Labour Party Budget, in probably the best economic times inherited by a new Government since Norman Kirk’s election in 1972. As a result Labour have been able to deliver significant spending initiatives, and keep to the prudent fiscal targets.”
 
“Nevertheless, much of the Government’s claims about boosting funding to health and education do not match the numbers, with the growth of overall funding actually growing at a slower rate than the final budget delivered by the last National Government. The big growth is actually in Social Security and Welfare, with spending increasing by 10.9%, compared to 3.2% in the last budget.
 
“Of real disappointment is the focus in this budget of dividing the pie, rather than growing it. The only economic initiative is the R&D tax credit change announced earlier in the year.”
 
“In terms of tax relief to grow business, the only initiative comes in the form of allowing tax deductions for racing studs – full deductibility for capital stock. The Taxpayers’ Union has been arguing that this measure would be the most effective way of boosting industry and wages across the whole economy. Winston Peters has traditionally had a close relationship with the racing industry, however we do not support favourable treatment for business types in the tax system."

UPDATE: You can email the Minister of Foreign Affairs about this issue by clicking here.

A subsidiary of the controversial Clinton Foundation is set to receive US$3.9m (NZ$5.5m) in taxpayer money in 2018/19, the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can confirm. This is in addition to NZ$8m given to the organisation since 2014.

MFAT claims that the organisation in question, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, is a separate entity. This is absurd – the Clinton Foundation appoints the organisation’s directors, making it a subsidiary in legal terms.

The Foundation is currently under investigation by the FBI over the way it obtained donations while Hillary Clinton was US Secretary of State – the same period in which the New Zealand Government began giving the initiative money.

Taxpayers deserve confidence that aid commitments are made to help the world’s poor, not to win favours with foreign politicians.

Even if aid money was meant to be used for diplomatic purposes, the funding’s justification for no longer holds with Secretary Clinton out of public office. It seems that all taxpayers have to show for our generosity is a stop on her book tour!

The new Government should follow Australia’s lead and cut ties with Hillary Clinton’s potentially corrupt organisations. She is perfectly capable of raising money without handouts from the little New Zealand taxpayer.

--> Click here to sign our petition to end taxpayer funding for the Clinton Foundation. <--

This is the kind of nonsense that our Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters prides himself on exposing and cutting out. He should politely wait until Secretary Clinton leaves the country, then announce an end to the funding.

The documents confirming the funding, released to the Taxpayers’ Union under the Official Information Act, are available below.

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has finalised and presented its submission to the Tax Working Group, along with submissions from more than 800 Taxpayers’ Union members and supporters.
 
We look forward to hearing the Working Group acknowledge not just our own submission, but those of the 800 or so taxpayers who have submitted via our website.
 
The basic message from our supporters is clear: the Tax Working Group should not be used as an opportunity to dig even deeper into taxpayers’ pockets. This theme is reflected in our own submission, which says that any proposals to hike or introduce new taxes should be offset with tax cuts in other areas.
 
A big thank you to all of our supporters who gave us helpful feedback on our Exposure Draft, ensuring our constructive suggestions for the Working Group are comprehensive and of a high standard.
 
Our full submission can be read here, or at the bottom of this page. Key points include:

1. Where new taxes are recommended, we say the Tax Working Group should make them revenue neutral – i.e. balanced with tax cuts in other areas.
 
2. No taxation without indexation: we call for income tax thresholds to be indexed to changes in average earnings or, at minimum inflation (as happens in Canada). This would end fiscal drag (also called 'bracket creep').
 
3. We call for the company tax rate to be cut for all businesses rather than cutting tax rates for smaller businesses (as the Working Group’s Background Paper proposed). Having multiple levels of company tax would create perverse incentives.
 
4. We call for full tax deductibility for businesses’ capital spending within the first year of purchase to increase incentives to invest in capital and productivity, and increase wages.
 
5. The loophole allowing charity-owned businesses (such as those owned by churches and iwi even when none of the profits are used for the 'charitable' purpose) to operate tax-free should be closed.
 
6. Similarly, Māori Authority-owned businesses should operate under the same tax rate as their competitors paying 28% income tax - and not be allowed pay the special 17.5% rate.
 
7. We explain why introducing a complex Australian-style capital gains tax would be a step backwards and bad for investment, growth and employment.
 
8. On retirement investment, we say taxpayers should be allowed to deduct inflation from taxable interest income.

We've made it easy for you to make a submission to the Government's Tax Working Group, chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. Our online tool will make sure your voice is heard.

Will you take a moment to send the Working Group a clear message? The Tax Working Group should not be used as an opportunity to dig deeper into our pockets.

--> Use our customisable template to make a submission to the Working Group <--

As if fuel taxes weren’t enough, the Group's chair, Sir Michael, has been talking about wealth taxes, asset taxes, environment and water taxes, and capital gains taxes. He's even been talking about taxes for 'bad behaviour', covering sugar, salt, fat, plastics, and more.

Our full submission is currently out for consultation with our members. You can view the Exposure Draft here (feel free to give feedback using this form).

Our key submissions are:

1. Where new taxes are recommended, we say the Tax Working Group should make them revenue neutral – i.e. balanced with tax cuts in other areas.

2. No taxation without indexation: we call for income tax thresholds to be indexed to changes in average earnings or, at minimum inflation (as happens in Canada). This would end fiscal drag (also called 'bracket creep').

3. We call for the company tax rate to be cut for all businesses rather than cutting tax rates for smaller businesses (as the Working Group’s Background Paper proposed). Having multiple levels of company tax would create perverse incentives.

4. We call for full tax deductibility for businesses’ capital spending within the first year of purchase to increase incentives to invest in capital and productivity, and increase wages.

5. The loophole allowing charity-owned businesses (such as those owned by churches and iwi even when none of the profits are used for the 'charitable' purpose) to operate tax-free should be closed.

6. Similarly, Māori Authority-owned businesses should operate under the same tax rate as their competitors paying 28% income tax - and not be allowed pay the special 17.5% rate.

7. We explain why introducing a complex Australian-style capital gains tax would be a step backwards and bad for investment, growth and employment.

8. On retirement investment, we say taxpayers should be allowed to deduct inflation from taxable interest income.

9. Any environmental tax proposals should (in addition to being revenue neutral) be sector neutral – i.e. politicians should refrain from targeting specific industries.

Our suggested submission can be altered as you wish.

--> Click here to make your submission to the Tax Working Group <--

Submissions to the Working Group close on Monday at midnight.

Thank you for ensuring there is a strong voice for taxpayers.

Taxpayer-funded health activists ignored advice from the Ministry of Health, Auckland Council, and Auckland Transport, to bully a company into dropping a promotion to raise money for Youthline, reveals the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.
 
Healthy Auckland Together (HAT), a coalition of public agencies and taxpayer-funded health groups, used taxpayer money to try and shut down a Youthline fundraiser because they objected to a Coca-cola billboard.
 
HAT complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about a Coca-cola bus stop billboard because it was 550m away from a school. This particular billboard encouraged people to text a number to donate to Youthline.
 
You would think that a public health group would be concerned about youth mental health, but in this case, HAT is blocking vital Youthline revenue for the sake of nannyism and anti-capitalism.
 
This organisation is turning into a group of zealots. They ignored advice from their own partner organisations Auckland Council, the Ministry of Health, and Auckland Transport.

Correspondence obtained under the OIA reveals all three had explicitly asked to be left off the ASA complaint, with the latter two citing a lack of evidence for making a complaint. The correspondence can be below.

 
At worst, we are looking at out-and-out dishonesty; at best, it is unprofessionalism of the worst kind.
 
The question remains as to why other taxpayer-funded groups are backing this political campaign. The New Zealand Transport Agency, for example, should have no role in this sort of thing.

You did it!

Earlier today our mascot “Porky the Waste Hater” presented our petition calling on the Hamilton City Council to ditch the proposal to change its name, to the Mayor and Councillors.

It is fair to say that the Mayor was NOT happy with the attention and our presence.  He wouldn’t even talk to us, or address our submission on his personal proposal to spend tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars to change the name of Hamilton City Council to Kirikiriroa City Council.

Your efforts – more than 1,500 signatures in only 36 hours – meant the Mayor didn’t even have a Councillor to second his motion.  Not even one. He withdrew the proposal soon after we presented the petition.

In the context of the Council wanting to hike rates by 20% in only two years, our spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke  – who presented to the Councillors – summed it up like this:

"Cases like this pose the question, if this is what you do with ratepayers' money in the light of day, then what are you doing when we're not looking?"

You can read more about what happened at the meeting on the New Zealand Herald.

Thank you to the fifteen hundred people who stood with with us on this issue to hold local to account on wasteful spending.