Finance Minister Bill English is unlikely to be swayed by a
last-minute plea from the Council of Trade Unions yesterday
to change the Government's fiscal objectives.
Claims that a capital gains tax would create large amounts of
government income and make houses cheaper were flawed, Polson
Higgs tax partner Michael Turner said yesterday.
The Inland Revenue Department has issued its interpretation
of a recent Court of Appeal taxation decision which tax
practitioners yesterday said left many questions unanswered.
Energy distribution and fibre optic network company Vector is
estimating a rise in after tax net profit of $20 million in
the year to June 30 as a result of tax changes in the Budget.
An opinion poll has shown most people don't think they will
be better off because of the budget's tax changes and Prime
Minister John Key says they are going to be pleasantly
surprised.
New loopholes will be exposed in the Government's plan to
generate more tax income by clamping down on people's ability
to arrange their affairs to avoid paying tax, the Green Party
says.
Prime Minister John Key says the GST increase to 15 percent
announced in yesterday's budget will not have a substantial
and long-term impact on inflation.
Finance Minister Bill English has come up with a tax package
"that almost looks like white rabbits out of the hat", New
Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants Institute tax
director Craig Macalister says.
Labour leader Phil Goff says people on an average income will
be $30 a week worse off under the budget's tax changes, a
direct contradiction of the Government's figures.
Today's budget announcement that GST will rise to 15 percent
means there is less money available to community groups from
the proceeds of gambling, says Community Gaming Association
chairman John Burke.
