GST | Environmental Health Watch NZ

“It’s quick…but it’s much harder on low-income people”… says a tax expert … really?

It’s not rocket science! With another round of taxing the poor down under, the guinea pig nation is set for another milking. Milking the poor that is. GST should never have been on food in the first place.

These pariahs are proposing a 32% rise! And blaming of course, the ageing population. They forget of course, how it is they got here. “Treasury said the country’s policies were not sustainable for the long term.” (There’s that word again … ‘sustainable’). Well, I’ll tell you what’s not sustainable. Politician’s perks! . And their salaries could do with downsizing as well. They now have their own private (no public allowed) pub at Parliament, all built on tax payer funding. It’s called Pint of Order no less. And don’t be thinking you’ll ever find out how much you paid for that.

Luxon is claiming a $54,000 accommodation allowance whilst living in his mortgage free apartment in Wellington! Along with some MPs claiming their $36,400 as well. Luxon is collecting a $471,049 salary!

The Post reports that “At least 20 MPs are claiming up to $45,000 a year allowance to stay in their own Wellington homes, a perk that sees the taxpayer help politicians pay off their mortgages.”

Did you know by the way, that 112,496 people are homeless in NZ? The NZ Herald reported in 2024 that NZ is among the world’s worst developed countries for homelessness.

It’s time that politicians pulled in their belts. Instead of exhorting the lower-income folk to.

How much tax does John Key pay compared to a minimum wage worker??

By John Minto / August 27, 2014

Yesterday I did some calculations to find out what tax John Key pays compared to a worker on the minimum wage.

MANA Movement Economic Justice spokesperson John Minto is calling for a radical overhaul of New Zealand’s taxation system with calculations showing that a minimum wage worker pays a ten times higher tax rate than the Prime Minister.

Minimum wage worker 28% tax

Prime Minister 2.8% tax

The minimum wage worker on 40 hours per week earns $29,640 and pays $4,207 in income tax and $4,149.60 in GST giving a total tax of $8,356.60 or 28% of income.

On the other hand the Prime Minister earns $428,000 from his PM’s salary along with this year’s $5,000,000 increase in his wealth (according to NBR’s rich list) which gives him a total income of $5,428,000. On this total income he pays just $132,160 in income tax and approximately $21,400 in GST giving a total tax of $153,560 or 2.8% of income.

This is a national embarrassment. Those least able to pay are under a heavy tax burden while the super-rich pay peanuts.

The National government and its attack bloggers refer to the working poor as scum, bludgers and ferals but it’s clear the real problem is with the top 1% of income earners who get all the benefits of taxpayer funded facilities and services but don’t pull their weight paying for them.

Cleaners, fast-food workers, hospitality workers and security guards are all heavily subsidising the lifestyles of the superrich.

These figures show we need an overhaul of our tax system so the Prime Minister and his rich-list colleagues pay their fair share.