Assisted dying = ACT
Cannabis = Greens
Abortion reform = formalisation of practices already in place
Try harder, Moka - name one transformative initiative by Cindy. She can’t even Deliver on Reducing child poverty!
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Not free, you're paying for it more than me.
You're also paying to help reduce child poverty by way of impoverished children being given at least something to try and help them to concentrate and learn at school.
Not a perfect policy by any means, but no doubt you'll be doing a few cashies along the way to offset the higher tax that you'll be paying. ;)
There is an organisation currently setup in Auckland that does offer free dinner - Basically a pay what you feel like paying type service. Not obligated to for your dinner.
They take food that would otherwise have gone to landfill and offer it up as 3 course dinners.
http://everybodyeats.co.nz/
A great initiative if you ask me.
I see nothing has changed since I left.
Question for you. How would you tackle child poverty in this country Balance? You don’t support an increase to the minimum wage, a living wage, or any form of social assistance. So what would your solution be for families working their butts off to support their children, who can’t earn enough to do that? I am not talking about people on benefits so please don’t come back at me with any of your beneficiary bashing comments. I am talking about low income families, many of whom have both parents working multiple jobs, who are still unable to get themselves out of poverty. Do you really begrudge your tax dollars going to help feed their children? Would you feel the same way if someone in your family was in this position?
Tell me what you would do to help these families, or do you actually genuinely not care about them or their children?
I'll have a crack.
For starters I would remove the punitive secondary tax rates. Also lowering the tax rate for the first 40-50k or removing it altogether to a certain level. Would require serious number crunching. Remember people will still be paying consumption taxes so the overall tax take would not fall much.
Lowering or removing GST on essential food should also be considered (Could be complicated but I think achievable)
What punitive secondary tax rates?
At the end you pay the progressive tax rate on your overall income.
A zero tax income threshold has some merit and you are right - would require a few assumptions and number crunching.
Something needs to change though. At the moment there is a lot of corporate welfare - the ability of business to pay low wages because the Govt effectively tops it up through 'working for families' and the like.
Yeah I used the term 'free' loosely haha. There are a lot in the school that are definitely living in poverty, so if it helps those kids out, and a blanket policy is the easiest way to achieve it, then so be it.
I bloody WISH I was able to do cashies, but nope, every cent that makes it into my pocket has come via the tax man.
Complicated is an understatement, and also starts a definition war. NZ has the simplest and best consumption tax in the world. Best left well alone.
And secondary rates are only the at source deduction. It all balances out at year end, so normal marginal rates will refund any overpayment.
Punitive secondary tax is a misconception. I didn’t realise that myself until I found myself on a benefit many years ago. You only pay the higher rate if your total income is over X amount (no idea what that figure is now).
I agree with all of your suggestions - who would have thought ;)
I also think it is high time they stopped charging us withholding tax on pathetic amounts of deposit interest. It is ridiculous that one can earn less than $1 and still be taxed on it. At a bare minimum the first $1000 of interest earned should be tax free.
You aren't pushed into another tax bracket - only the income over the threshold is taxed at the higher rate - your marginal tax rate.
It is a common misconception that all your income is suddenly taxed at a higher rate.
The idea of a 'secondary' tax rate is so that you are less likely to have to pay tax at the end of the tax year.