Even if you admire the ends, the who and what of tax is pretty loathsome, argues Danyl Mclachlan. Last week was tax week at the Spinoff. It celebrated companies that pay tax, interviewed Sir Michael Cullen, argued that tax is love and that we should stop talking about it as a burden, and gave a … Read more
She thought about walking away from tax, but couldn’t. Maria Slade finds Westpac’s tax guru Jo Sawden does it for the love of it. Jo Sawden loves tax. Accountancy’s most arcane branch certainly isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time, but for the head of tax at New Zealand’s third largest corporate taxpayer it is … Read more
The former deputy prime minister and chair of Labour’s tax working group talks to Duncan Greive about housing, tax, Bill English and Labour’s big 2017 campaign mistake. Whatever room he’s in, Sir Michael Cullen gravitates toward the centre. This is less about his gravitas, which remains strong nearly a decade after he left parliament, but … Read more
The rhetoric over the past decade or so has painted tax as a ‘burden’ from which we need ‘relief’. But PSA national secretary Erin Polaczuk argues that tax isn’t a burden nor a necessary evil, but something paid by Kiwis, for Kiwis. The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays … Read more
Last week The Spinoff’s managing editor published an op-ed celebrating the nation-building value of taxation. Act leader David Seymour was unimpressed. Very, very unimpressed The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read more. Duncan Greive’s article Tax Heroes: Forget the rich … Read more
If tax is love then New Zealand needs to show a lot more affection, writes Max Harris. The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read more. Love is a deep warmth that we direct towards other things. It’s a value we … Read more
Business consultant and Treaty commentator Joshua Hitchcock looks at the terms of reference for the new Tax Working Group and asks: how can the tax system create a more equitable outcome for Māori? The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read … Read more
New Zealand is one of the most profitable credit card markets in the world, one that’s dominated by Visa and Mastercard. Both companies benefit from sweetheart tax deals from being based in Singapore, but with increased scrutiny on international tech behemoths over their tax records, is it time for us to take a closer look … Read more
Tax Heroes: It has paid billions in tax since 2003, but the NZ Super Fund’s head of tax John Payne says it sees tax as simply a return to the government. The New Zealand Super Fund was set up in 2003 to help pre-fund the future cost of universal superannuation in New Zealand, and it … Read more
No capital gains tax no problem? Not exactly – Tax Heroes has uncovered our biggest property players pay a much lower tax rate, Maria Slade reports. Whether New Zealand should introduce a capital gains tax is set to be almost as hot a topic in Labour’s first term as the prime minister’s pregnancy. While debate … Read more
Tax Heroes: We always hear about who is not paying tax, but who pays the most hasn’t been measured – until now. Maria Slade talks to the two Auckland professors behind the numbers of Tax Heroes. In the days of former prime minister Rob Muldoon you couldn’t get a first class flight out of the … Read more
The Spinoff Cheat Sheet: a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, what is the Tax Working Group anyway – and what is it up to? The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read more. Before all … Read more
Tax, tax, lovely tax. We all pay it, in one way or another, and we rely on it to pay for things like schools, healthcare and roading – our tax does some wonderful things. Here are ten tax numbers you need to know. The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who … Read more
Today we launch Tax Heroes, a project created in partnership with the IRD which aims to ‘invert the rich list’, and instead focus on the entities that contribute the most to New Zealand. Duncan Greive explains what it’s all about. Every July for 32 years the National Business Review has published its ‘Rich List’, a … Read more
Tax Heroes: We take a closer look at how much tax our 50 biggest companies paid in 2017. “Tax is love”: Read Duncan Greive’s introduction to our new Tax Heroes series here. Do our biggest businesses pay their fair share? This was the question confronting Auckland accounting professors Jilnaught Wong and Norman Wong. So they … Read more