PM's Intervention To Kill Simon Watts' Ute Tax 2.0 Welcomed By Taxpayers
The Taxpayers' Union is welcoming the Prime Minister's intervention to rule out the Inland Revenue Department's proposal to apply Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) to all utes worth $80,000 or more and other work vehicles — a plan directed by Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.
In response to media comment issued by the Prime Minister's Office last night, Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:
'Simon Watts was pushing a new Ute Tax, without his Cabinet colleagues or the public even knowing. Had it gone ahead, farmers and tradies would have been slammed with thousands of dollars in additional tax each year – not just once like Labour's Ute Tax, but every year.'
'The documents are crystal clear. IRD was instructed by Minister Watts to proceed with and consult with the tax industry on the implementation of a new FBT regime that would capture work vehicles, regardless of how they're actually used. This was a massive tax hike by stealth.'
"As far as we can tell, the Revenue Minister didn't consult with any taxpayer, business, or farming groups, despite work having been done on this for nearly a year. Had he bothered to engage, the unfairness and political risk would have been obvious. That lapse saw the Government facing backlash because it was tax boffins who blew the whistle and it took everyone by surprise. Minister Watts should learn the lesson."
'Within hours of our campaign launch yesterday, the National Party was in damage control. Within six hours, the PM's team overruled Watts and confirmed the policy would not proceed.'
The Taxpayers' Union yesterday revealed documents showing that IRD had been working on changes to remove the logbook exemption for work vehicles and impose FBT on the assumed private use of double cab utes. According to IRD's own estimates, the tax grab would have cost farmers, tradies and other ute owners $100 million per year.
'We give credit to the Prime Minister and his office for stepping in quickly and pulling the handbreak.' says Mr Williams.
'This is a clear win for taxpayers and proof that grassroots pressure works. We thank the thousands of Kiwis who used our online tool to email National MPs and demand the Ute Tax 2.0 be scrapped."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
4 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Never mind the swear words, politicians need to raise debate quality
I don't believe people are genuinely shocked by the language we're all hearing every night on our streaming TV shows. What is shocking is the standard of argument being employed by politicians and parties as they seek to score points with silly populist arguments. On my Facebook and Instagram feeds, the Labour Party has been trying to tell me that the Government is to blame for soaring butter prices. It has posted a chart of butter prices pointing out that they have doubled since the National-led coalition came to power. That's annoyed me on a number of levels. Despite the fact it seems to enrage many Kiwis, soaring dairy prices are clearly a net gain for the economy. We sell a lot more internationally than we consume locally and the current dairy price spike is expected to bring in an additional $10 billion in export revenue over this year and next. It's exactly what our economy needed. The impact on consumers is overstated. Butter prices have doubled in two years. You used to be able to get a 500g block for about $4.50 now it's about $8.50. That's an extra $4 a week, far less than petrol prices fluctuate on a regular basis. Also, there are numerous butter substitutes and blends that haven't risen nearly that much. I understand why someone on the Labour Party team has tried to milk the dairy price story (sorry for the pun). It is a headline grabber and an easy online meme. I bet the analytics on it look great. But it makes no sense in the real world. The Government has no control over international dairy prices. There are things a government could do to reduce the cost of butter for local consumers. They could subsidise the price with taxpayer money. Or they could impose price controls on farmers and force them to sell a certain amount locally. These would be terrible policies, and there is no chance Labour is about to adopt them. So butter prices would be exactly the same right now if they had won the last election. More broadly, inflation is running rampant like it was throughout 2021 and 2022. It has edged up to 2.5% but remains within the Reserve Bank's 1-3% target band. The same Stats NZ release that included the butter price graph also pointed out that annual rent price increases haven't been below 2.8% since 2011. Of course, much lower inflation isn't all good news. The fact it is underperforming so badly is giving economists confidence that inflation will stay subdued. The economy is struggling to get any momentum and there is no doubt a lot of people are doing it tough. There's no shortage of real issues with this recovery, which the current Government ought to take some responsibility for. Labour could legitimately be attacking the Government on unemployment and job security. There are tens of thousands more people on the Jobseeker benefit now than there were when Labour was in power. I don't mean to single out Labour either. The National Party spent a lot of time in opposition attacking Labour for letting those Jobseeker numbers rise. It also drives me crazy when the Government holds press conferences after the Official Cash Rate announcement to take credit for falling interest rates. Interest rates are falling because inflation is under control and the economy is underperforming. If they go much lower, it will be because things are getting worse, not better. Meanwhile, in the past week, we've had David Seymour running 'victim of the day' social media attacks on opponents of his regulatory standards bill. Seymour says he is being 'playful' and having 'fun' with his line, suggesting opponents are suffering from 'Regulatory Standards Derangement Syndrome'. Surely if the bill is worth putting before Parliament, then it must have been aimed at delivering some sort of meaningful change to the status quo. Let's have a grown-up debate about what that intended change is. What's frustrating about political debate in 2025 is that politicians are so quick to build 'straw man' arguments because they seem easy to sell as memes and headlines. A 'straw man', for the record, is where you present a weak version or flawed version of your opponent's argument so you can easily dismiss it. It's lazy and doesn't do anything to boost the quality of policy-making in this country. It's probably too much to ask, but wouldn't it be nice if our politicians were confident enough in their view to employ the opposite of a 'straw man' argument? That's called a 'steel-man' argument. It requires you to consciously present the strongest and most charitable version of your opponent's argument. Then you explain why it still doesn't stack up. It requires you to do a bit of homework and think through the logical basis for your argument. I'm pretty sure all the leaders of our political parties are smart enough to do that. But we seem to be following a depressing international trend which sees social media debate reduce everything to simplistic points which appeal to an increasingly tribal political base. New Zealand has a cyclical recovery underway that would have happened, at a greater or lesser pace, regardless of who was in power. Scrapping over that is pointless. We need to be looking ahead to how we lift the economy at a structural level and enable higher levels of cyclical growth. That requires some serious work and will need a higher quality of debate than what we've been seeing this year. This column will take a two-week break as the author is on holiday with his family. Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for theNew Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined theHeraldin 2003.
Newsroom
19 hours ago
- Newsroom
Govt set to announce special development deal with one city
The Government is on the cusp of declaring its first 'city and regional deal' to unlock growth potential around one major centre – most likely to be Tauranga. It hopes a deal can be a game-changer for the western Bay of Plenty region. Two other centres, almost certainly to include Auckland and possibly Queenstown, are likely to be announced as next off the rank, priority deals to be negotiated through 2026. Cabinet reportedly scrutinised on Monday officials' assessments of cities' so-called 'light-touch proposals', or applications for the unique central government-local government funding and planning deals for roads, housing and infrastructure. A first, signed memorandum of understanding, to underline the coalition Government's commitment to 'going for growth,' had been listed in its latest quarterly action plan ending June 30, next Monday. In February, cities and regions submitted their bids for the special government treatment, which could mimic some of the principles followed most famously by the UK government with Manchester. Applicants had been urged to put forward up to five priority projects in their area that would unlock economic growth. The expected deals would be long-term commitments by those cities, having consulted their private sector and local iwi, to pursue development that also meets central government goals. While guidelines from the Internal Affairs Department to potential applicants said deals should rely on existing resources, rather than new funding, they said the agreements would set out a framework of how new funding could be used when available. So Tauranga, which those close to the process expect to have made a compelling case for Wellington backing given its population, housing and transport growth, would not be in for an initial financial windfall In March, the two ministers leading the policy, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts, said it was 'designed to help reduce New Zealand's infrastructure deficit through unlocking productivity, attracting investment and improving connectivity across the country. 'Delivering a joint long-term vision for regions will ensure they remain focused on delivering what matters most to ratepayers, including critical infrastructure like housing and transport.' Watts said successful councils would need to show how each initiative would match other government priorities such as the Local Water Done Well reforms of water services. One of the features of the deals will be that central and local government budgets and investment strategies will be synchronised to maximise the impact of resources. Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas wrote for Newsroom at the start of this government's term that more than 30 city deals were operating in the UK – some focused beyond infrastructure and housing. Edinburgh, for example, had struck a $600m innovation city deal with the Scottish and UK governments to accelerate productivity and growth by funding data-driven innovation, research, development and technology hubs. In Australia 12 city deals were already in operation when our coalition Government took office, covering urban priorities from transport infrastructure, entertainment centres and stadiums to workforce development. Thomas says 'city deals need guaranteed funding arrangements to be credible and innovative arrangements involving the private sector can play an important part.' The Internal Affairs guidelines required an initial 10-year strategic plan with 'clear outcomes and actions required to achieve them' and there had to be a 30-year vision for the region. Auckland councillors were tipped by their chief executive Phil Wilson at their monthly meeting on Thursday to expect to hear the Government's city deal news next week. Chris Bishop's office did not address Newsroom's questions over whether the Cabinet had considered the city and regional deal assessments last Monday, or if one would be announced next week. It offered seven timeless words of deflection: 'Ministers will make announcements in due course.' The Tauranga-based bid was in the name of three councils, Tauranga City, the Western Bay of Plenty District and the Bay of Plenty Region and developed with iwi and the area's economic development agency Priority One. Tauranga Mayor Mahe Drysdale said: 'Government has done a great job of signalling investment in the region through the Roads of National Significance programme, and now we want to build on that initiative to deliver growth in core infrastructure that will enable 40,000 additional homes and unleash jobs and economic growth.' Regional council chair Doug Leeder said another key component of the deal would be to enable increased exports and export income for New Zealand via the Port of Tauranga. The bid proposal listed three priorities: 1. Deliver the Western and Northern Corridors with major roading projects – Tauriko Network Connections and Takitimu North Stage 2, enabling housing and industrial land development. 2. Develop the Eastern Corridor by unlocking key land development projects; Te Tumu, Rangiuru and Te Kāinga. 3. Enable exports, resilience and decarbonisation of freight led by the Connecting Mount Maunganui project. The committee for Auckland's Mark Thomas told Newsroom the Auckland proposal was also strong. 'The Auckland deal has been put together with high-level private and public sector and iwi involvement and is a quality product. 'Two years of State of the City reports on Auckland have confirmed a long-term partnership, like a regional deal, between Auckland and Government is the only way to address the systemic and long-standing issues impacting Auckland's performance such as our low peer innovation performance, our skills deficits, and underinvestment in transport.'
Scoop
20 hours ago
- Scoop
REVEALED: IKEA Consent Shows Why We Can't Have Nice Things
'IKEA's consent conditions show the absurd demands that councils are able to make that slow development, drive up cost, and make New Zealand a less attractive place to do business,' says ACT Leader David Seymour. ACT has obtained a copy of the 2023 resource consent for IKEA's Sylvia Park development. IKEA's consent requirements include: Inviting representatives of seven different mana whenua groups 'to undertake cultural monitoring, karakia and other such cultural ceremonies on the site' at the pre-start meeting, commencement of earthworks and immediately prior to completion of bulk earthworks across the site, with 10 days' notice before each of those events. Consulting with mana whenua on design aspects including erosion and sediment control measures, stormwater treatment, planting, the 'Culvert-edge walkway', and fencing. Mana whenua must be afforded the opportunity to provide Cultural Monitoring as deemed required by the respective mana whenua representatives. Mana whenua must be afforded access to the site at their discretion. 'What message do conditions like these send to other businesses looking to invest in New Zealand?" says Seymour. 'This is especially relevant for supermarkets, where we urgently need more competition. Companies like Aldi or Coles will think twice about entering the market if they realise they'll face this cultural rigmarole at hundreds of separate sites, each with potentially different requirements. 'We should be rolling out the welcome mat for anyone wanting to bring much-needed competition to New Zealand. Instead, we're forcing them to navigate demands based on metaphysical concepts not required anywhere else in the world. The result is Kiwis see higher prices at the checkout, less jobs, and lower incomes. 'That's why Cabinet has agreed there will be no general Treaty principles clause in the new resource management system. We will continue to uphold Treaty settlements, but we cannot continue to have planners bogging down everyone's consents by demanding this sort of absurdity."
