ACT the only party with faster path to surplus, no new taxes

“Paying down debt and returning to surplus is job number one for any Government serious about unlocking New Zealand’s potential. We pay $24.8m a day servicing the interest on our debt. By the time you have finished reading this press release, another $50,000 will be gone. In 2018/19 it was $10.1m a day.

“New Zealand needs a path to real, sustained surplus. That means continuing to find savings year after year and building a government that is smaller, more efficient, and capable of balancing the books. Not making up the shortfall with new taxes.

“The National Party says it won’t introduce new taxes ‘on working New Zealanders’, but who do they think pays in the end?

“ACT has killed three taxes in this term of Government because the first rule of no new taxes is simple - don’t introduce them. When politicians say they’ll only tax someone else, remember that taxes affect both buyers and sellers.

“Taxing the banks might be a popular idea, but nobody really believes the customer won't end up paying, either.

“Taxing tourists through a bed tax for staying in motels is another popular idea, until the costs fall on the people who own and work at motels.

“Putting a stamp duty on foreign home buyers is also partly paid by the seller, who'll keep less of the sale price. And who'd bet against it expanding to more real estate transactions next time Labour's in power?

“Everyone likes to think a tax will be paid by someone else, but taxes have a way of growing and capturing more people as time goes on. Just look at GST.

“That is why Government should never introduce a new tax. It should manage within the budget it has, just like everyone else has to do.

“Any Government without ACT would be a higher spending Government. For voters who want to balance the budget with no new taxes, a Party Vote for ACT is the only reliable choice. Anything else is a vote for bigger Government, one way or another.”