Wednesday, May 18, 2011

No, it's not fair but you vote for it

Reported in NZ Herald today:

KiwiSaver worked well, he said "because the money comes out of your pay packet and once that happens, people don't give too much thought to it. They just carry on living to what they have and take home every week."


Just like PAYE. And the reason why it is so difficult to get some people excited about the issue of taxation.

Unless someone stirs the pot. Like in today's DomPost where Vernon Small runs with a Stuart Nash Labour MP assault on farmers and the tax they don't pay. Farmers, who create wealth, are compared to beneficiaries and superannuitants, who use up wealth. Farmers who are subject to seasonal, currency, market changes and fluctuating incomes; state dependents who are assured of a steady weekly income no matter what. And of course a whinging (almost certainly WFF recipient) two-child couple turns up: "It's not fair". I am only surprised they didn't continue with, "We are raising the next generation of taxpayers!"

If you want fair let's have flat tax. Let's have simplicity and transparency. Let's have less frigging government pitting one group against another for their own gain.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you want fair let's have flat tax.

A real flat tax. Not a single rate proportional tax (like 15% of income): that's still progressive because Rich Pricks pay more - someone on 10,000 pays 1,500; someone on 1,000,000 pays 150,000 - even though they will use far far less government services than the unproductive pseudo-bludger on 10,000.

A real flat tax like the one Maggie tried to introduce in the UK: say 10,000 per person.

Someone on 30,000 pays 10,000. Someone on 1,000,000 pays 10,000. That's a real flat tax!

Unsolicitedious Rebugger said...

Kiwisaver works well because "the money comes out of your pay packet" - hmmm, well that depends on what your definition of pay packet is. I would like to know how many Kiwisavers are in receipt of WFF. All those people are actually putting money into Kiwisaver that has come out of someone else's pay packet!