Taxation message given to Minister

Press, 4 August 1981, Page 1

Taxation message given to Minister

PA Wellington The Minister of Customs (Mr Templeton) was given the message yesterday by some National Party conference delegates that he could not get away with saying reduction of any taxes would be very difficult. The conference passed a remit urging the Government to “fundamentally reform present taxation levels to reduce the burden of direct taxation which encourages evasion, reduces incentive. and undermines the principles of equity.”

The vote was close and delegates presented a range of views including some referring to Mr Templeton’s statement on Sunday that until there was growth in the economy reduction of any taxes would be very difficult. “In the meantime we must reform the system," Mr Templeton had said. Mrs V. Forbes (Waikato) proposed yesterday’s successful remit, and said moves had to be made on taxation before “the voters do it through the ballot box.” Mr G. Reeves (Miramar)

said: “It's no good Hugh Templeton telling us it can’t be done. It can be done and must be done.”

Mr Dan Stevenson (Ohariu) said inflation and present levels of tax were damaging growth. Mr C. Knowles (Hauraki) said it was common among farmers to reduce production as it was not worth while because of taxes.

Applause followed a comment from Mr J. Boddy (Taranaki) that there would have to be a reduction ; in taxation to get growth. The challenge was to adopt a social responsibility, not a social liability. Mr M. Lowndes (Otahuhu) said one real problem was that if there was a shift to indirect taxation no-one would know how much tax they were paying. He criticised the high level of Government spending and Government involvement “in our lives," and said the remit was “meaningless in its present form."

The Minister of Housing (Mr Quigley) said the State was “far too dominant.” He

said the growth strategy would not work unless New Zealanders, and the private sector in particular, had the wherewithal to respond to the tremendous challenges before them.

“Those challenges will not be accepted if we merely involve ourselves in a shuffling of the tax pack,” he said.

“We need to deal with the deficit before borrowing, which successive governments have inflicted on the taxpayers of New Zealand." A remit agreed on by a committee of the conference said the current taxation system should be restructured as a matter of urgency. The rates of individual income tax should be adjusted so that the taxation curve rose less steeply and the percentage of income paid as tax by average income earners be fixed and maintained at a more reasonable level. There should also be a shift towards the greater use of indirect taxation, the ■remit said.

Conference reports Page 3