Foreword

We want to return the discussion to the important issues for most New Zealand workers and taxpayers that are often forgotten during all the talk of ‘burdens’ and ‘reliefs’: why we pay tax, what our taxes are paying for, and whether New Zealand’s tax system is fair and robust enough to adequately fund the crucial public services we depend on.

Over the ten chapters in this booklet, contributors consider everything from tax myths and political promises to specific measures for taxation on wealth and carbon emissions; from family assistance and inequality to social contract theory and tax avoidance. We also include primers on New Zealand’s history of tax policy and our relative taxation in an international context.

This is not about presenting PSA policy to readers, and it is not an argument for or against specific tax policies - for us, releasing this book is about broadening the discussion around tax during this election year, and bringing experts together to consider progressive solutions to some of New Zealand's enduring economic issues.

We’re not advocating for specific taxes nor fiscal policies in this book; this is not a manifesto. Some consistent themes do emerge over the ten articles here – New Zealand’s lack of a comprehensive Capital Gains Tax, for example, or the regressive status of Goods and Services Tax in practice. Since its implementation. Several authors identify the problem of major tax avoidance by multinational companies, and several want to see income tax arrangements re-evaluated for a more progressive and fairer system that doesn’t over-burden the worst-off in our society. Inequality, over-politicisation and fairness are also recurrent themes.

Contents

• Foreword by Glenn Barclay & Erin Polaczuk, PSA national secretaries
• Talking tax, with context and all that by Morgan Godfery
• History of tax policy in New Zealand by Dr Lisa Marriott
• What my parents taught me about tax (and fairness) by Max Rashbrooke
• Taxing wealth by Bill Rosenberg
• Four tax myths that might pop up this year by Keith Ng
• Tax and the Social Contract by Bob Stephens
• Climate change and tax policy by Paul Young
• New Zealand’s tax settings in an international context by Terry Baucher
• Tax and family assistance by Susan St John
• A light touch on foreign trusts and companies by Shamubeel Eaqub