Written by Admin | January 19, 2010
Anyone who seriously thinks that the Tax Working Group's (TWG) recommendations are radical needs a reality check. The TWG report is a valuable contribution to the economic debate, and deserves a good airing. But if New Zealand is to close the income gap with Australia, we need to do much more than matching Australia's personal income and business tax rates. A broad suite of growth-friendly policies - including bolder tax reform - needs to be implemented and a shared economic vision established. We need to accept that the adjustment to a higher long-term growth path might cause some short term pain, and we need political leaders to commit to seeing the reforms through.