Thursday, May 25, 2006

there is no depression in New Zealand


Yeah right!

Labour has claiming the average Kiwi family with children will soon have the lowest tax burden in the developed world.

Remember the journalist's name - Colin Espiner. Leftie. Brother of Guyon. Another leftie. Needs to stop buying into spin."The cardinal sin is to buy into spin. That's the cardinal sin in journalism." (Al Morrison quoted)

What Espiner wrote:
David Benson-Pope told Parliament that once the recent WFF extension was factored in, New Zealand would have the lowest tax rates in the OECD for families who fitted that profile.

What he should have added in the article but didnt:

The average NZ family has two or three kids, and the average family income for those families with kids is $88,000 - so many will be on the highest tax rate. Therefore the average family won't get family support as its income is too high - but most will get the In Work payment. The "recent" WFF extension doesn't happen until 2007.

In 2007 our wages will go up and families "fitting that profile" will have the highest effective tax rates in the world. We will not have the lowest tax rates in the OECD.If we are the only country that considers welfare is tax, well of course "families who fit that profile" will have the lowest tax rate, particularly as a significant percentage will be getting more back in welfare than they pay in tax. But thats not the "average NZ Family" - perhaps the "average one income New Zealand family". Duh!

New Zealand is probably the only country in the OECD where families on 110,000 get welfare payments - the very welfare payments designed to bridge the gap beween welfare and work. It is the only country where the effective tax rate is more than 90 percent for some people. If Benson-Pope wants to say that families will have the lowest tax rates in the OECD, he should also state that they also have the highest effective tax rates in the OECD when wages increase.

Cardinal sin numer two: Report anything Benson-Pope says without question.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When MPs can get welfare then you just know the system is fucked.

Little Red Riding Hood said...

Not welfare, tax relief.

And we have PLENTY of right wing reporters Dave - if both sides are complaining about a biased media then they must be doing something right.

Anonymous said...

And if its "tax relife"....does it not logicaly follow that you have been over taxed? To be relived means you must at one point been under pressure...no? ;-)

Anonymous said...

"Tax relief" also....;-0