Kia ora John, 

In these uncertain times, New Zealanders deserve as much stability as we can give them. That’s why today I announced Labour’s 2020 revenue policy - to support our plan for economic recovery, protect vital services, and to keep a lid on debt.

As we saw COVID-19 take hold overseas, we knew we had to act fast to protect our people, which is why we went hard and early - taking the extraordinary step to close our borders and go into Alert Level 4 so early in the crisis.

Together, our team of five million fought hard and we beat the first wave of the virus.

We cushioned the economic blow by rolling out a range of policies to protect jobs, incomes and businesses. Doing so required us to borrow. It was necessary borrowing - funds that supported 1.7 million workers with the Wage Subsidy Scheme, initiatives to keep our businesses afloat, and spending to keep our health response strong. And because we went into the crisis in a strong economic position, our overall debt is still much lower than most other countries.

The plan now is to keep a lid on that debt, while protecting the vital services that New Zealanders rely on, like health and education. To help do that, we’re introducing a new top rate of income tax.

This means no change for 98% of New Zealanders, with only the top 2% contributing a bit more to support New Zealand’s recovery.

If you want to know if you’ll be impacted by our new policy, we’ve made an easy Income Tax Checker tool for you to use - simply scroll through to find your annual income and see if you’ll be affected.

We are also making sure that Kiwi businesses are operating on a level playing field, by continuing to work on measures to ensure multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax.

Today’s announcement is about being clear with New Zealanders about what they can expect from the next Labour government. We know that when it comes to money, Kiwis want certainty.

Unfortunately, Judith Collins and the National Party are all over the place when it comes to providing this certainty, with uncosted policies and a debt target that could mean massive cuts to vital services like health and education. That’s a risk no New Zealander needs, as we rebuild our country together.

Right now we need stability and continuity so that we can keep New Zealand moving. That is what this policy provides.

I’ll be back in touch soon.

Thank you,

Grant Robertson
Labour Finance Spokesperson

P.S. You can click here to read more about our tax policy and how we plan to protect vital services like education and health and keep a lid on debt.

P.P.S. If you have questions about our plan, I’ve recorded a video answering the most frequently asked ones here.