“The Government’s farcical attempts to find 160,000 bank accounts so it can return taxpayer money to New Zealanders is embarrassing,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“Only this Government could hire an army of bureaucrats to take money from New Zealanders and then spend $14 million trying to work out how to give some of it back.
“It’s taken the Government more than three and a half months now to figure this out.
“The policy, according to Grant Robertson, was signed off by Cabinet on 11 April. But it’s still desperately trying to track down 164,000 bank account numbers.
“The Government is hiring 300 contractors, and spending a massive $14 million, to run the cost of living payment scheme.
“This is a farcical and embarrassing attempt to ‘solve’ the cost of living crisis.
“The simplest approach is to allow New Zealanders to keep more of their money.
“ACT would deliver immediate and real tax relief to Kiwi households. That’s what ACT’s policy of lower, flatter taxes would provide.
“Our Real Change Budget shows how we can cut taxes while reducing borrowing by reversing wasteful spending. That means tax cuts won't be inflationary.
“ACT would deliver a tax cut for every earner, including $2,185 for an average full-time worker, with a two-rate tax structure: 17.5 per cent up to $70,000 and 28 per cent thereafter, together with a Low- and Middle-Income Tax Offset.
“Instead of taking Kiwis money from them, and then spending $14 million to create a complicated new scheme to give it back, why doesn’t the Government simply let people keep more of what they earn?”