If National wins ...

[fungus pudding]

[QUOTE=fungus pudding;613396]

Not that I'm a Labour voter, but I could perhaps if they get a leader that resonates.
But I'm not blind to what they achieved.
Under Clark, Labour reduced the government debt considerably, continually posted surpluses.
In the 1980s Labour transformed/modernised the NZ economy from Muldoon's 1950s approach.
This National government beat a previous National government's record of the most consecutive years of running the country in deficit.
National line the pockets of the already wealthy, at the expense of the tax payer and lower income.
QUOTE]

Couldn't agree less. Tax on annual income of 50,000 is approx. 16% Tax on annual income of 200,000 is around25%
Annuak income of 300,000 pay tax of approx 30%.
The higher paid certainly subsidise the lower paid.

[Daytr]

And yet the wealth divide continues to grow...
Your numbers are based off what is actually claimed as income.
If it was based off gross income the percentage for higher income earners would be a lot lower, due to all the deductions and tax minimisation.
Where as Joe & Jane wage earner pay at source and typically have little way to avoid paying tax on their income.

[fungus pudding]

And yet the wealth divide continues to grow...
Your numbers are based off what is actually claimed as income.
If it was based off gross income the percentage for higher income earners would be a lot lower, due to all the deductions and tax minimisation.
Where as Joe & Jane wage earner pay at source and typically have little way to avoid paying tax on their income.

What do you mean by gross income? No matter who - income is either a wage or a profit. In other words no-one pays tax on the amount of money they turnover - it's assessed on profit. Nothing else would make sense. Certainly some people do not declare all income, but that is illegal.

[craic]

So Daytr, anyone who works for a bank is a banker? even the tea lady, the doorman? the electrician and the cleaner? Go to Goldman-Sachs in London and speak to the fellows in suits who hang around the doorway. They call themselves security guards. Which kind of banker were you? Clearly not one of the highly paid money handlers who know about money.

[blackcap]

And yet the wealth divide continues to grow...
Your numbers are based off what is actually claimed as income.
If it was based off gross income the percentage for higher income earners would be a lot lower, due to all the deductions and tax minimisation.
Where as Joe & Jane wage earner pay at source and typically have little way to avoid paying tax on their income.

Don't really know what you are on about here Daytr. We in NZ have a progressive tax system so those that earn higher income pay a lot higher tax. Care to give a few examples of tax minimisation? If you are in business and pay Joe and Jane a wage (with accompanying PAYE) but you yourself make the same amount of profit as Jane and Joe, you will still be paying the same amount of tax. ALl the deductions are legitimate business expenses that actually do not benefit you privately (otherwise you would be paying fringe benefit tax) so I fail to grasp your reasoning. Income splitting between husband and wife etc (say for a professional sole trader) has become a lot more onerous too and it now has to be shown that the "wife" is actually being paid for what she is doing. If she is doing nothing, then she cannot claim a wage or salary.

[Daytr]

I don't think you are that naïve.
What I am saying is the wealthy have more opportunity to minimize their tax or taxable income than the paye wage earner.

[Daytr]

Perhaps you should read posts before responding.
I said they work for banks.
I was a commodity trader in metals & energy markets and worked on deal teams for bank loan syndications etc.
Traded futures and derivatives, physical, FX, interest rates, commodities, money market, credit derivatives on occasion.
I'll let you decide if I was paid the big bucks. ;-)
Perhaps you might want to stop guessing about others, as I said you are looking a little silly.

So Daytr, anyone who works for a bank is a banker? even the tea lady, the doorman? the electrician and the cleaner? Go to Goldman-Sachs in London and speak to the fellows in suits who hang around the doorway. They call themselves security guards. Which kind of banker were you? Clearly not one of the highly paid money handlers who know about money.

[Daytr]

Hi BlackCap, I would have thought its pretty obvious. The fact the we don't have a fully fledged capital gains tax, means there are plenty of avenues for income to be made that is not taxable.
I also refer to the offshoring of income that never sees the light of day.
Trusts in the past have also been a very lucrative tax light vehicle in the past, although from what I gather the tax advantages have largely disappeared, but I could be wrong on that.
They maybe legal but continual deferment with things like depreciation, companies that make losses year on year & yet the owners get wealthier & wealthier.
You make it sound like everyone's tax return is legitimate.
I would suggest tax avoidance is akin to a sport in the Western world.
Mind you I would rather we & other countries clamp down on these multinational companies that have avoided paying tax all round the world including NZ. I wonder what the SP of the likes of Google and others would be if they were forced to pay tax each country where the earnings came from.
Ireland has got away with 'stealing' 10s if not hundreds of billions of tax revenue from other countries in the last 20 years or so.

Don't really know what you are on about here Daytr. We in NZ have a progressive tax system so those that earn higher income pay a lot higher tax. Care to give a few examples of tax minimisation? If you are in business and pay Joe and Jane a wage (with accompanying PAYE) but you yourself make the same amount of profit as Jane and Joe, you will still be paying the same amount of tax. ALl the deductions are legitimate business expenses that actually do not benefit you privately (otherwise you would be paying fringe benefit tax) so I fail to grasp your reasoning. Income splitting between husband and wife etc (say for a professional sole trader) has become a lot more onerous too and it now has to be shown that the "wife" is actually being paid for what she is doing. If she is doing nothing, then she cannot claim a wage or salary.

[craic]

[QUOTE=Daytr;613461.
I was a commodity trader in metals & energy markets and worked on deal teams for bank loan syndications etc.
Traded futures and derivatives, physical, FX, interest rates, commodities, money market, credit derivatives on occasion.

And how did you manage to turn that exalted position into your present position as a disgruntled poster, obsessed with another from a simiilar position who, with a consderably more positive outlook than yours, has risen to the position of the most popular Prime Minister the nation has seen in a long time.

[elZorro]

And how did you manage to turn that exalted position into your present position as a disgruntled poster, obsessed with another from a simiilar position who, with a consderably more positive outlook than yours, has risen to the position of the most popular Prime Minister the nation has seen in a long time.

He's popular, but is he any good for anything, Craic?