Labour's new policy - attack the farmers

[Winston001]

Over the past few days Labour MP Stuart Nash said dairy farmers at 31 March 2009 (two years ago) only paid an average $1500 tax that year. http://www.3news.co.nz/Farmers-hit-b...3/Default.aspx

Now Phil Goff announces that farmers will be taxed $800 million for the Emissions Trading Scheme to fund research.

In the first case of Stuart Nash he is an emptyheaded animal foodtrough wiper. He completely overlooks the Global Financial Crisis which made many of our businesses hit hard times. He conveniently ignored the fact farmers and others had already paid a heap of provisional tax. No mention either by Nash of the PAYE and GST paid.

I really have to wonder about Labour. Traditionally this is the party of thinkers, intellectuals, ideas people, and the best they can come up with is attacking the one productive sector NZ's wealth has come from for 150 years?

Oh puleesse...

[Brian d marge]

dem times they are a changing ...maybe farming might be ..not the future ???

From what I read here from the treasury http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/overview/2010

Snip
Service industries make up a large proportion of the economy, accounting for over two-thirds of GDP. The sector recorded strong growth between 2000 and 2007, with annual growth averaging 4.0%. As the New Zealand economy entered recession in 2008, services growth slowed, but not to the extent of other sectors in the economy. With the services sector expanding at a more rapid rate than other areas of the economy, the sector has increased its share of GDP from 66% in 2004 to 71% in September 2009. Export-related activities such as tourism and primary sector services inputs play an important part in trends in this sector.






Stephen

hang on a min look how much these oldies get ,,,,Bastards .......

[Motig]

Fail to see what your problem is. The ETS for farmers was still going to come in under National anyway. At least this way we might actually get some result for the money as opposed to it lining some faceless money grabber.

[James Deuce]

Good. They don't pay tax for starters and their entire business model revolves around living in a shack, eating Pam's canned vegetables for 20 years and then making massive capital gain turning productive land into a subdivision. The average Dairy Farm business owner pays 6% income tax.

PAYE Winston? Seriously? Have you seen what Farmers (Dairy in particular) try to pay their workers and then wonder why they leave for the heady income of a Gas Station or retail store and regular hours without 4 hours unpaid downtime in the middle of the day?

The Dairy farming industry needs to be charged at least 800 million a year to clean up NZ's waterways let alone the ETS. I have little sympathy for tax avoiding chronic polluters. They need to start behaving like responsible business owners and it looks like they can only be controlled with legislation. A combination of the ETS and Capital Gains Tax might turn them back into responsible business owners.

[MSTRS:Me]

There's a enormous difference between what is earned and what tax is paid on. I'm not talking about turn-over either.
If dairy farmers are (legally) able to write off so much income against expenses that they only pay $1500pa on average...in some ways, good on them. I'd like to know their secret...

[unstuck]

How a lot of dairy farmers down this way are crying poverty when the have new cars and boats and the like sitting in the driveways.

[oneofsix]

There's a enormous difference between what is earned and what tax is paid on. I'm not talking about turn-over either.
If dairy farmers are (legally) able to write off so much income against expenses that they only pay $1500pa on average...in some ways, good on them. I'd like to know their secret...

secret, what secret? When you buy the new bike its an expense on you and no write offs apply, when the farmer buys it its a farm expense, and probably registered as a farm bike avoiding road bike ACC, and there fore a farm expense, the registration is a farm expense as well. So though the farmer now has a new bike it is a tax write off, not income then purchase.
Oh and you get to pay higher dairy prices cause the international price is rising and you will get to pay again when the international price drops cause our primary sector needs the support of the rest of NZ soooooo much.

[willytheekid]

How a lot of dairy farmers down this way are crying poverty when the have new cars and boats and the like sitting in the driveways.

+1

Exactly.
The modern day farmer seems to have the best toys money can buy nowdays.
They never seemed to require a 80k 4x4 when I was a boy, or a tractor worth more than a small house!?!.
All the while they are allowing run off into OUR rivers and diverting & SELIING public water for there our use and profit!.
Christ in CHCH alone the farmers have the monopoly on water to the point where they sell it back to the council, and WE pay extra in our rates for water that is legally OURS to being with???.

Im sorry, but the farmers have taken it to far, love what they do and the products they provide but they need to pay there share in TAX and take a good look at themselves and some of there business practices.... they are starting to look like dirty greedy money grabbers

[schrodingers cat]

You'd think a 'left' leaning party would relise that Marx wasn't an idiot.

Service industries are all well and good but remove primary production and see what happens.

As for the haters - there is nothing stopping you starting your own business and learning a whole lot about how things work.

[James Deuce]

There's a enormous difference between what is earned and what tax is paid on. I'm not talking about turn-over either.
If dairy farmers are (legally) able to write off so much income against expenses that they only pay $1500pa on average...in some ways, good on them. I'd like to know their secret...

A cunning plan is a "company" credit card with an $80k limit and a 4% interest rate. The rest of us mortals can't access these despite apparently earning many times the income of the average DF. Which side of the ledger does a company credit card go? Amazing how they get cleared once a year and not necessarily at the time that Fonterra pay out on their BS untradeable "shares".

Another scam is to send the wife to work to run the household and then draw no income, using the big, low-interest CC to fly around the country as a National Athletics Coach (and then claim it all back as expenses) while your 70 year-old Mum keeps the farm going.

Yes, I am jealous. You can be utterly unqualified, have the work ethic of a P-addict, tip antibiotic tainted milk, fertiliser, and fecal coliform into rivers with impunity and still have all the toys and no imperative to change any of the bad stuff about your "lifestyle".

[oneofsix]

Im sorry, but the farmers have taken it to far, love what they do and the products they provide but they need to pay there share in TAX and take a good look at themselves and some of there business practices.... they are starting to look like dirty greedy money grabbers

Starting to look like? what you really mean is you are starting to see them as. They have always been what they are. Given the chance most of us would do the same. However that doesn't mean we should give them the chance. They should pay their share as they certainly don't stand back when it comes to claiming benefits from the tax payers, even when it takes smart accounting to make them appear entitled to the benefit

[Okey Dokey]

I'm not sure that I understand how Labour can use money from the ETS to fund another policy they support. Isn't money from the ETS collected to protect NZ from any liabilities owing from signing up to the Kyoto Protocol?

Using it for something else means that it is just another tax, surely.

[dhunt]

+1

Exactly.
The modern day farmer seems to have the best toys money can buy nowdays.
They never seemed to require a 80k 4x4 when I was a boy, or a tractor worth more than a small house!?!.
All the while they are allowing run off into OUR rivers and diverting & SELIING public water for there our use and profit!.
Christ in CHCH alone the farmers have the monopoly on water to the point where they sell it back to the council, and WE pay extra in our rates for water that is legally OURS to being with???.

Im sorry, but the farmers have taken it to far, love what they do and the products they provide but they need to pay there share in TAX and take a good look at themselves and some of there business practices.... they are starting to look like dirty greedy money grabbers

You obviously don't know many farmers then aye. The ones I know drive old cars, have regular meetings with their bank managers to talk about there mortgage payments that they aren't meeting, don't ever have any regular holidays etc.

And when their machine breaks down have to renegotiate with the bank on how to pay for it. With the cost of farms these days it's a wonder farmers can actually make any profits at all.

It's funny I even know some farmers that have negative equity - so they are stuck trying to break even after 20+ years of slaving away and still have the possibility of coming out broke!!

Maybe there are some farmers that drive round in flash utes etc but ask them how many million they owe the bank and you'll find things aren't so rosy.

If the government ends up putting all these extra taxes on our farmers I suspect all our farms will end up with overseas owners because the average kiwi farmer won't be able to afford to run one.

[oldrider]

How a lot of dairy farmers down this way are crying poverty when the have new cars and boats and the like sitting in the driveways.

Farmers have always been subsidised by the tax payer (Claytons beneficiaries) they are the backbone of the country!

Phil the magician is looking into his hat for something to "WOW" the gullible!

[unstuck]

In the last 6yrs comes from the dairying industry and i spend a lot of time on dairy farms.Most of the farmers talk about being broke and shit after they have just come back from a holiday somewhere or have all the nice toys.Dont have a problem with it apart from if you are doing ok,own up to it. I have more respect for someone who is using the SYSTEM to get ahead and admits it , than someone who is using the SYSTEM and has all the toys and pleads poverty. Same way i feel about people breaking the law and crying like a little girl when they get busted.If your making money from something own up to it and enjoy it,dont tell me your broke when you just brought the latest commodore ss.