The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is slamming Budget 2025 as a waste of time and hype, with its team of analysts in this year’s Budget left asking ‘is that it?’

"Nicola Willis has failed,” says Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Jordan Williams. “This Budget could easily have been delivered by Grant Robertson."

“Willis promised to tackle the last Government’s ‘addiction to spending’. Spending is going up as a proportion of the economy in this year’s Budget compared to the current year. Core Crown Expenses are forecast to be 32.9 percent in 2025/26 compared to 31.8 percent under Robertson in 2022/23.

“She promised to balance the books. The OBEGAL never gets into surplus according to Treasury forecasts. Willis has had to make up a new measure to exclude the ACC deficit to create an illusion of a laughably small surplus in 2029.”

“And she promised growth. But the headline measure – an accelerated depreciation regime – is basically no better than what the last Labour Government tried immediately after COVID.”

“According to the Budget documents, the Government's headline ‘growth’ policy adds just 1 percent to GDP over 20 years. It is laughable in its small size.”

“More spending, more debt, and nothing to materially shift the dial and grow the economy. It’s not a Growth Budget, it’s a fudge-it."

The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming Revenue Minister Simon Watts’ announcement that the proposed Digital Services Tax Bill will be scrapped, but warns that adopting a global alternative could still leave taxpayers even worse off.

Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman James Ross said:

“The Digital Services Tax would inevitably have ended up taxing Kiwis by stealth, either through higher prices or lost services as tech firms pulled out of the market.”

“Other countries have tried and failed. With Trump-era tariffs looming large, now is certainly not the time to invite US retaliation by taking targeted petty swings at American companies.”

“Watts needs to go further. Pursuing the so-called ‘global solution’ doesn’t just lock us into higher taxes, it’s clearly anti-democratic. We should categorically rule out ever handing the power to set our tax rates to overseas bureaucrats far beyond the reach of New Zealand voters.”

“One tax down (for now), but plenty more to go. This Government is still taking more in tax than Grant Robertson ever did, and Budget 2025 is their chance to deliver real tax relief for Kiwis across the board.”

The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming today’s announcement of a further $604.6 million for KiwiRail, calling it another round of spending on a company that continues to haemorrhage taxpayer money with nothing to show for it.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Tory Relf said:

“KiwiRail has never returned a dividend, routinely blows its budgets, and spent $8 million on secret consultants, now gets rewarded with another $600 million? It’s fiscal madness.”

“This latest blowout reinforces the urgent need for reforms outlined in our A Pathway to Surplus report, including ending the open chequebook approach to failing state-owned enterprises.”

“Taxpayers need to see an end to the unaccountable, unaffordable gravy train in Thursday’s Budget.”

While frontline health workers are crying out for resources, public sector bosses are walking away with six-figure payouts— even when they fail.

These golden handshakes are bureaucratic back-handers at their worst. Taxpayer-funded farewell packages, legal settlements, and even private courses for disgraced officials are being dished out with zero accountability.

It’s time to change the law. Public servants paid more than Cabinet Ministers (c. $296,000pa) they should not be able to take unjustified dismissal claims against the Crown nor receive taxpayer-funded pay-outs to resign when they’ve done a bad job.

If senior public servants are to be paid the big bucks, they should accept the responsibility that comes with the role. 

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On the news Health NZ paid for outgoing Chief Executive Margie Apa to attend a governance course — after she’d already resigned.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Co-ordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“Margie Apa was already one of the highest-paid public servants in the country — pocketing $895,000 this year, nearly $400,000 more than the Prime Minister. Now taxpayers are being forced to top that up with a golden handshake on the way out the door.”

“This wasn’t some internal training session. This was a career-boosting governance course — funded by you and me — for a Chief Executive who had one foot out the door."

"Health NZ calls it ‘outplacement support’. We call it a waste of money.”

“While hospitals are under pressure and frontline workers are crying out for resources, the top brass are looking after their own. It’s bureaucratic back-handers at its worst.”

"Its time to end the days of public service Golden Handshakes."

Going for Growth: Taxpayers’ Union urges Government to adopt Full Capital Expensing in new briefing paper  

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is today launching the first in a series of briefing papers aimed at tackling the country’s long-standing under-capitalisation and low productivity. Titled Going for Growth: Full Expensing of Capital Expenditure, the paper makes the case for a tax policy with a proven track record of boosting investment, productivity, and wages. 

Full Capital Expensing allows businesses to immediately write off the cost of new equipment, machinery, and technology, rather than spreading the deduction over years under complex depreciation schedules. This policy has been successfully implemented in the United States and the United Kingdom, driving economic growth and increasing tax revenue in the long run. 

The briefing paper can be downloaded here (or read below).

Economic growth is not just a theoretical concept—it’s the key to higher wages, better public services, and greater economic opportunities for future generations. Full Capital Expensing is a no-brainer that would supercharge investment and make New Zealand businesses more productive.

With Finance Minister Nicola Willis set to deliver Budget 2025 in less than three months, the Taxpayers’ Union is urging the Government to seize the opportunity and implement the policy to come into effect on Budget night. 

If Christopher Luxon is serious about growth, Full Capital Expensing should be at the top of his agenda. And if the Government really want to put a rocket under the economy, they could adopt the ‘use it or lose it’ approach used by Donald Trump and Rishi Sunak – making the policy time-limited to encourage businesses to bring forward investment decisions.

The briefing paper highlights the success of Full Capital Expensing in other jurisdictions and details how New Zealand can implement it effectively. 

Politicians love to dangle short-term sweeteners in front of voters, but real economic growth comes from policies that drive productivity. Unlike tax cuts designed to boost consumer spending, Full Capital Expensing supports the kind of investment that lifts the entire economy.

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Kiwis who support pro-growth policies to endorse the initiative and send a clear message to the Government. 

Poll after poll shows Kiwis are tired of managed decline, and they want more than fiddling round the edges from Budget 2025. Here’s a cost-effective solution which will go a long way to breaking us out of our economic downward spiral.

Dear Supporter,

Refunding Aucklanders for their fuel tax ⛽️💸

You know things have got bad for the Government when...

It's not often that we're on the same page as the Public Service Association – the main public sector union which tends to campaign for the Labour Party.

Tax bracket creep has now got so bad that even this left-wing union is now running our talking points: that minimum wage workers are now at risk of falling into the 30 percent income tax bracket.

There is a growing consensus that it's time to address bracket creep, but Grant Robertson says he has no plans to change the brackets. The obvious reason is tax creep has benefited him by stealthily increasing his income tax take, allowing him to make massive spending commitments of dubious quality. We need to keep the pressure on.

Are taxpayers set to bailout Ponzi schemes?

The Reserve Bank is currently putting together legislation that would see deposits with banks insured by taxpayers.

However, the scheme would extend to high-risk finance companies. Where similar schemes have been put in place overseas, they have resulted in taxpayers being forced to bail out dodgy failed investments and even collapsed Ponzi schemes.

Our Research Fellow Jim Rose (a long-time economist) has produced a submission on the proposed Deposit Takers Act. You can find the executive summary and full document here.

Taxpayer Talk: What does the new TOP Leader stand for?

The Opportunities Party (or simply "TOP") has a new Leader – Raf Manji. I sat down with Raf for a long-form podcast interview to ask why he's so keen for a universal basic income, how he thinks a land tax will pay for it, and whether TOP is a "left-wing" or "right-wing" party.

Click here to listen, or find all of our Taxpayer Talk episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or iHeart Radio.

Thanks for your support, and all the best,

Louis Houlbrooke Campaigns Manager New Zealand Taxpayers' Union

Media coverage:

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NZ Herald  National's Christopher Luxon says NZ 'society divided', Jacinda Ardern 'missing in action'

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NBR  Wellington protests, vaccine mandates, and MIQ late bills

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NZ Herald  One last chance left to deliver

Newshub  New Zealand Taxpayers' Union gives about 50 Aucklanders their petrol tax back in pointed exercise directed at Government

RNZ  Lobby group pays drivers' fuel tax at North Shore petrol station

TVNZ  Taxpayers' Union stunt sees motorists handed back petrol bill tax

Kiwiblog  Taxpayers’ Union staff are literally handing out free cash in Takapuna

Kiwiblog  Taxpayers’ Union Curia February 2022 poll

Magic Talk  Taxpayers' Union Curia Poll

NZ Herald  'Pouring petrol on inflation fire': Bay of Plenty business leaders opposed to minimum wage hike

NZ Herald  National closes gap, as minor parties lose ground

The Spinoff  Parliament protest continues as omicron numbers top 2,500

Newstalk ZB  Taxpayers' Union Curia Poll

Newstalk ZB  Heather du Plessis-Allan: More of us think we're headed in the wrong direction

The Daily Blog  New Poll: Support for Luxon hardens – Left plus vs Right plus plus plus in 2023 showdown

RNZ  Labour holds strong in latest political poll, while National creeps up and minor parties suffer

The Country  The Country Full Show: Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Stuff  New poll: National surge up closer to Labour; Greens and ACT down

NZ Herald  TPU/Curia political poll: National closes gap to Labour, with minor parties losing ground

The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union can reveal that the $11.7 million payment to the Green School will result in 25 fewer jobs in the private sector.

This calculation was made based on a new briefing paper, The jobs cost of taxpayer-funded projects, released by the Union today.

Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Our latest research examines work by the Treasury and New Zealand economists estimating the 'deadweight loss' of our tax system – this is the measure of the cost of taxation that is not the amount of money taken from the private sector, but the way the taxation motivates people to work less, and spend and invest less, leading to economic distortions."

"Because government spending is funded via taxation, we can examine the deadweight loss of handouts such as that announced by James Shaw last week."

"Research from local economists leads us to a conservative estimate that the deadweight loss of tax (or the spending it funds) is about 15%. That means the Green School handout didn't just take $11.7 million from taxpayers; it cost the economy an additional $1,755,000."

"So how many jobs did this eliminate? Based on the government's own job creation estimates, a job can be created for around $70,000. That means the deadweight loss of the Green School handout cost the economy 25 jobs." 

"Too often, our politicians fall into the trap of thinking they can create employment with increased spending. But if that were true, high-spending countries like Greece and Spain wouldn't be facing employment crises. While it's true that economic stimulus is needed in the era of COVID-19, this needn't come in the form of giant cheques. Leaving this money in the economy via lower tax rates will allow money to circulate in a way that creates jobs passively, without costly perverse incentives."

Spending items singled out as examples in the briefing paper include:

• The $72.5 million support package for the racing industry generated $10.9 million of deadweight loss and cost the economy 155 jobs.
• The $1 billion annual allocation for the Provincial Growth Fund over the last three years has generated $150 million of deadweight loss per year and cost the economy 2140 jobs per year.

A new briefing paper released by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union makes the case for a temporary cut in the rate of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 15 percent to 10 percent, mimicking what the United Kingdom Government did with VAT immediately following the Global Financial Crisis.

Policymakers are currently grappling with the question of how to spur spending in the economy as we face a recession. This question will become urgent as the wage subsidy scheme ends in September and we see the real effects of COVID-19 on our economy.

With the official cash rate already close to zero, monetary policy has become increasingly ineffective as a stimulus tool. This has seen politicians propose fiscal interventions, such as the Government’s interest-free business loan scheme, but these interventions are often poorly targeted and create perverse incentives.

Fortunately, our tax system already provides a sound, indiscriminate mechanism to encourage spending. A temporary cut to GST during the height of recession would encourage New Zealanders to bring forward consumption – similar to a cut in the official cash rate.

This spending would breathe life into revenue-starved businesses, ensuring they can continue to employ New Zealanders and keep supply chains unbroken.

We suggest a sunset clause kicking in after a year to avoid long-term deficit effects or politicians replacing the lost revenue with increases to more economically damaging taxes.

On a yearly basis, the fiscal impact of this cut would be a $7.36 billion reduction in reduction in revenue for the Government. However, this impact could be reduced implementing the policy for a shorter period of time.