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The ACT Party on Economy and Taxes

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The issues

The ACT Party strongly supports lowering company tax rates

Act supports having the lowest, flattest tax rates possible and has long argued that New Zealand’s company tax rate needs to be at least as low as Australia’s. Leader Rodney Hide has said, “We should drop the personal income tax to 20 percent. The rate of company tax should likewise be dropped to 20 percent”. On another occasion he said, “There’s no other single measure that a government could take that could provide such a boost to business, investment, jobs, and to our country. Act’s present policy says it supports, “Company taxes by 2018/19 will be 15%, the same as the top personal tax rate

The ACT Party strongly supports a tax-free zone at the bottom end of the income scale

Act supports the lowest possible taxes. Specifically, its 2008 policy says it would “Create a tax free threshold of $25,000, saving $3,050 in tax for those people who want to opt out of government provision of accident, sickness and healthcare cover to provide for themselves”.

The ACT Party I support of oppose the $700m Fast Forward Fund to fund research in the food and pastoral sector

While the party makes no specific mention of the fund in its 2008 policy, a spokesman for Act says it opposes the fund.

The ACT Party supports paying GST on food

Act policy makes no mention of the issue in its policy, but an April, 2008 report on TVNZ said: “Act leader Rodney Hide says while he can understand the case being made, the idea is not a good one. He says defining food can be a complicated matter and businesses would face additional costs and complexities in dealing with such an exemption when doing their accounting”. The party want to cut GST rates to 10 percent by 2018/19.

The ACT Party strongly opposes amending the Reserve Bank Act to include growth and employment targets

Act’s 2008 policy make no mention of amending the Reserve Bank Act and a spokesman says the party strongly opposes such a move.

The ACT Party strongly supports toll roads

Act’s policy states that it will “encourage private sector investment in road construction, both through direct ownership and through partnerships with central and local government”. It goes on to say that road-users should pay for roads “through charges which are closely related to user costs” and that “users can best signal their needs when modern flexible pricing systems are employed”.