The Tax Working Group is the latest initiative from the government that is setting out to find answers to questions we haven’t yet asked, says the Productive Economy Council.

“Like Don Brash’s productivity taskforce, the Tax Working Group will inevitably make recommendations to “fix” a broken system. Which is fine, as far as it goes. The problem is that that if New Zealand is viewed as a train, with the economy as the engine, and our society as the carriages being pulled behind, these fixes might help keep the whole train moving, but they do nothing to define its destination.”

“In short, what’s lacking in all of this is any articulation of a vision for our economy, our society and our country,” says PEC spokesman Selwyn Pellett.

“The applicability of any of the policies from the Tax Working Group can only be measured against such a vision,” he says.

“Without an articulated vision, how do we as a country decide which is better; a lift in GST (Goods and Services Tax), to tax income derived from capital appreciation (Capital Gains Tax) , or a land user tax? All have very different outcomes and biases and considered in isolation they all have merits.”
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