The many ways "our" National Government has already changed our lives financially:

[scott411]

I know they get a lot of abuse, but maybe it's better to prevent the abuse with a big stick than take away the carrot? My family for one is generating considerably more tax revenue than we ever did before we earnt degrees care of the government's student loan scheme.

i see your point, and i agree somewhat, but i know people that have stopped making extra payments due to the fact there is no motivation to do so, an apprentice machenic does not get interest free loans on his tools, but they need to have them to keep his job and upskill.

it is like the benefit arguemnet, most use it the way intended, but some abuse it,

[scott411]

#6 Tax Cuts and #7 ETS has now been added to initial post

the ETS was a labour policy as well, and it is less money now than it would have been under labour,

[imdying]

i see your point, and i agree somewhat, but i know people that have stopped making extra payments due to the fact there is no motivation to do so, an apprentice machenic does not get interest free loans on his tools, but they need to have them to keep his job and upskill.

it is like the benefit arguemnet, most use it the way intended, but some abuse it,

We have never made any extra payments, but our two loans will be paid fully in October and December of this year, so it's taken 4 years a piece, during which time we've paid the tax on our salaries. We also have literally ten times the disposable income that we had before we started, so we're madly paying tax on all sorts of things now... a lot more than we would have had otherwise... hell otherwise we would probably qualify for some sort of benefit or other which we would quite rightfully have collected.

Taking away the motivation to study isn't the answer, whack the abusers with a big stick would be my preference.

[dieseldave]

Resident Withholding Tax RWT Tax on interest earned etc. gone from 19.xx% -> 21.xx%. Went up prior to ACC levies increasing.

Pissed off mostly about ACC on bikes - and diesel 1 tonne utes, among others, which slams the small business battler again!
ACC once had a surplus that they 'invested' o'seas. ( millions) Obviously they cocked up rather badly.. so we 'help' them.. Cynical..

[Conquiztador]

Resident Withholding Tax RWT Tax on interest earned etc. gone from 19.xx% -> 21.xx%. Went up prior to ACC levies increasing.

That is incorrect. The change is that the Resident Witholding Tax is from 1 April 2010 aligned with your Income Tax. This means that your income tax is what also is used for taxing any interest you have earned on your savings.

"What this means is that if you earned the median income from all sources of $538 per week in 2009 ($27,976 per annum) and say have $5,000 saved and earn a few dollars of interest income then from 1 April you will notice that you will have RWT deducted at a rate of 21% per annum rather than 19.5% per annum – unless you tell the bank otherwise. This is because your actual tax rate is 21% per annum and by having it deducted at 19.5% you were creating an income tax liability for the end of the year. Most people don’t realise that if you earn over $200 a year in interest you are required to fill in an income tax return and by doing so they were discovering a surprise at the end of the year that they were not paying the correct amount of tax. With the tax changes you would no longer have an end of year bill to worry about."

[Milts]

Don't forget #X: cuts to tertiary and adult education funding

My colleague is studying postgrad at Massey University. Due to funding cuts by national, the choice of papers to study has been severely limited to the point where she is taking papers covering nearly the exact same topic as previous courses she has done. Four of the six postgrad students have quit studying due to lack of courses after these budget cuts and her and the remaining student will not be coming back next year. They are international students paying through the nose and receiving sub-standard education. As a result, they are both heading back home to find alternative places to study.

I wonder how much business will be missed out on and how much less money will come in from overseas as a result of this...
Not to mention people wanting to upskill by taking adult education courses may now be unable to. Despite all the rhetoric about 'work smart not hard', people wanting to do so are finding it more and more difficult.

[shrub]

and I'm not at all surprised that two years into the "business-friendly" government's term we're all paying more and earning less; and business confidence is rock bottom.

I do some business development and marketing consultancy work and I am finding that my clients (small and medium businesses) are struggling like never before and it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to find ways for them to build their businesses. I suspect that we're about to head into another recession because when the faeces hit the rotator our beloved Masters showed almost no imagination or courage, a pattern of behaviour that has continued for the last 2 years and will continue until they get voted out and the cycle continues with Labour screwing up as a nice change from National screwing up.

[oldrider]

the cycle continues with Labour screwing up as a change from National screwing up.

True! I deleted the word "nice" in the quote for obvious reasons!

[oldrider]

Don't forget #X: cuts to tertiary and adult education funding

My colleague is studying postgrad at Massey University. Due to funding cuts by national, the choice of papers to study has been severely limited to the point where she is taking papers covering nearly the exact same topic as previous courses she has done. Four of the six postgrad students have quit studying due to lack of courses after these budget cuts and her and the remaining student will not be coming back next year. They are international students paying through the nose and receiving sub-standard education. As a result, they are both heading back home to find alternative places to study.

I wonder how much business will be missed out on and how much less money will come in from overseas as a result of this...
Not to mention people wanting to upskill by taking adult education courses may now be unable to. Despite all the rhetoric about 'work smart not hard', people wanting to do so are finding it more and more difficult.

Very true!

Hence the reason for the addition to my signature! (well, "my" humble interpretation of events anyway)

[Brian d marge]

I keep saying till Im blue in the face
its not national . labor or Tony Blair on the off chance he will get elected

It s the Bond market and the IMF the international bank

if Ive got this straight , the cost of raising money is about 6 % this is the risk others are willing to pay and how organizations raise money

http://www.interest.co.nz/saving/moneymarket/

So with the AAA rating given us by standard and poors means the cost of borrowing money is not to bad

Japan is 1.15 % i think ( no risk )

The IMF has told NZ to tighten its belt, How it does this. is up to the Government at the time ( speeding tax , student loans, ACC Remember America has the voting in the Imf and they Dont have ACC or the concept of )

I think according to Chris Trotter , Nz hasnt been "noticed " by the Bond market as we have been shielded by Australia
but if we are noticed and I think our Debt/Gdp is a touch high , then the Bond market will be severe and the cost of raising money will be much higher
http://www.interest.co.nz/charts/economy/overseas-debt

We need to open up differing markets , produce more ( smarter not harder ) and look out for the basic needs , house , food and utilities , ALL of which are WAY to high ( Raped by overseas )

Sorry have to rush so cant do this properly , sorry !

Stephen

[paturoa]

There were also some tax cuts / threshold changes in 2009 and 2010

Liarboar tax rates and thresholds at the election (remember the chief thief's (Cullen) election bribe tax xuts!)
Income to $14,000 12.5%
$14,001-$40,000 21%
$40,001-$70,000 33%
$70,001 and over 39%

From 1 April 2009:
Income to $14,000 12.5%
$14,001-$48,000 21%
$48,001-$70,000 33%
$70,001 and over 38%

From 1 April 2010
Income to $14,000 12.5%
$14,001-$50,000 21%
$50,001-$70,000 33%
$70,001 and over 37%

[Conquiztador]

I don't really give a shit who is in charge and does what they do. Currently it is National, and what I have stated in post #1 are the facts. Then you can argue that it is because porridge has become too cold or there are homos in the basement.

This thread is re what we in NZ currently are confronted with. Not the reasons, not the solutions, not who is screwing who where and at what pace.

At no stage in this thread have I stated that someone else would have done it differently, better or had rooted us more.

Facts, ladies and gentlemen. Facts. Then you make what you want out of it.

[sinned]

#10. The government is borrowing $250M a week to pay for government programmes, education, health, public servant salaries etc rather than have the basket case collapse in a heap.

[Conquiztador]

#10. The government is borrowing $250M a week to pay for government programmes, education, health, public servant salaries etc rather than have the basket case collapse in a heap.

Proof please. I put this in the same basket as "ACC is broke"

[sinned]

Proof please. I put this in the same basket as "ACC is broke"

What proof do you want and where is your proof for all the others? Are you questioning if the govt is borrowing the $250M a week - if so I will find the ref. If you are questioning if they need it - well what sort of moron would borrow money they don't need to fund the cash flow. FFS