Liberty Belle

Yesterday we had the Budget foisted upon us. Remember Labour’s 1999 ‘Pledge Card’? It included the words, “there will be no new taxes”. And what have we seen – Labour’s Roll of Dishonour:

Income tax increased from 33% to 39% for those earning more than $60,000.

Fringe benefit tax up from 49% to 64%.

Trust income tax up from 19.5% to 33%.

Resident withholding tax – deduction rate on interest from either 19.5% or 33% to 39%.

Tobacco tax – increase in the average cost of a packet of cigarettes from $7.20 to $8.20.

Petrol tax up 4.7c plus GST.

Import fee - $18 on all imported commercial goods for goods with a GST liability of more than $50.

Petrol – ACC levy increased from 2.3c to 5.08c per litre.

Alcohol – so-called ‘sherry tax’ – increasing cost from $21 to $38 a litre for beverages with 14-23% alcohol content.

ACC levies – farmers have faced a 74% hike in their ACC levies in the past three years.

ACC motor vehicle levies – motorbike levy up by 57%.

Birth, death and marriage certificate fees increased by 42.9%.

Driver licence renewal fees increased from $29.50 to $44.30.

Fire service levy, household levy increased by 17.70% and increase in motorists’ levy of 17.7% collected by insurance companies.

Fishing licence fee increase of 10%.

Cattle slaughtering levy increased up to 50% per head of slaughtered cattle.

Export education levy – a $185 charge to institutions per foreign fee-paying student plus 0.45% of their tuition and course fees.

Fund withdrawal tax – 5% tax on withdrawals of employer contributions to superannuation schemes for those earning above $60,000.

Border Security Bill - $20 million on importers and exporters for a service deemed public good.

Car ownership rego increased 14%.

Fuel excise and road user charges pegged to inflation, but no reduction on amount of taxes siphoned into the consolidated fund.

New levies on non-petrol driven vehicles increased from $176.10 to $221.31.

Increase in fuel excise levy of 5c per litre, and an equivalent rise in road user charges for light diesel vehicles.

Kyoto fund – extra 1c per unit on electricity.

Kyoto fund – extra 4c per litre on fuel.

30% increase in road-user charges for diesel vehicles.

This is your money. You are being robbed.

Yours in liberty,

Deborah Coddington.

© Scoop Media