The Government doubled down on its tax cut plans in the mini budget today - but in doing so demonstrated the need for real tax reform, according to Tax Justice Aotearoa.

“Adjusting the tax thresholds is something that needs to happen,” says Tax Justice Aotearoa chair Glenn Barclay, “but the Government has still not fully explained how this will be funded.” 

“There is a real risk that these tax cuts will come at the cost of undermining capacity of the public sector to lead our response to the many challenges we face in areas such as climate change, inequality and health.”

“Our tax system is inequitable and it doesn’t raise enough revenue to enable us to meet these challenges,” says Glenn Barclay.

“Paradoxically, the cutting of programmes such as Smokefree in return for relatively small tax cuts for most people demonstrates the collective power of taxation and the ability of public expenditure to address societal needs.

"We are losing something of significant benefit to society and the people who will get most benefit from the tax cuts are a small group of wealthy individuals and landlords.

“These tax changes are merely storing up problems for the future at a time when most economists are saying we need to raise more revenue.

"We need to properly tax wealth and consider taxes that target environmental and health issues, instead of backing away from them,” says Glenn Barclay.