Monday 4 Apr 2005
Rodney Hide
Press Releases -- Taxation

ACT Leader Rodney Hide today repeated his call that under ACT's proposed tax cuts workers would receive a bigger boost in their take home pay.

Mr Hide was responding to today's strike action by workers seeking a pay increase at Colgate Palmolive in Wellington and Stagecoach in Auckland.

ACT is proposing to drop the top personal tax rate to 25 cents in the dollar and extend the 15-cent rate up to $38,000. As a result, a worker on $40,000 per year would be $35.86 richer a week, while a worker on $60,000 would be $66.55 wealthier.

"ACT's bold tax proposals are equivalent to a seven percent pay-rise for the average worker under Labour's current high-tax regime," Mr Hide said.

"Booting this anti-worker, socialist Labour Party out of office at the election, not industrial action, is the single most effective way that workers can get the pay-rise they want and deserve.

"Households are no better off since Labour came to power. Labour's tax hikes and inflation have wiped out any pay rises over the last six years. In short, households are being squeezed.

"ACT is the only political party that can be trusted to return the Government's obscene $7 billion surplus to those who earned it - the hard-working taxpayers of this country," Mr Hide said.

ENDS

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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