Warning given on taxation

Press, 20 March 1982, Page 2

Warning given on taxation

NZPA Wellington . The Consumer Council wants other forms of income taxed before there is any “grand leap into indirect taxes.” It says that the present tax system is unbalanced, unfair and discriminatory, and wants the Government to look at other taxes, such as raising estate and import duty and instituting capital gains taxes. It also wants the tax system changed because, it says, inflation has pushed people into higher tax brackets, burdening the ordinary taxpayer, as well as stimulating

tax avoidance and blunting incentive. . ■ “While indirect taxes on (goods may have to be increased to help compensate for reductions in income tax, • this should not be a major priority- because consumers will end up paying the indirect taxes in higher prices,” it says. Indirect taxes increases prices, which fuel wage demands, which bear more heavily on the poor, allowing traders to take profit margins on the taxes. “Top priority should be to examine the introduction of taxes on such forms of income as fringe benefits and capital gains, and also to examine increases in estate duty and import duty,” says the council.