The Green Party is today welcoming the announcement of a market study into banks, but is urging the Government to act now and raise corporate taxes.

“Banks have made eye watering record profits recently due entirely to circumstances out of their control, while low income people in Aotearoa spend more and more of their income on essentials. A market study will be useful, but the time is now to lift every single family out of poverty through our Income Guarantee and to pay for it with a fairer tax system,” says the Green Party’s finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter.

“The Green Party has been pushing for an inquiry into bank profits for almost two years and we’re pleased the government is finally taking action. However, it should not take an inquiry to realise that we have thousands of people struggling to cover the basics, while huge banks are able to line the back pockets of their wealthy shareholders.

“While we support this investigation, the government does not need to wait a whole year to act. Banks are making billions of dollars that could be taxed fairly and the money used to help people to make ends meet. That is one of the ways the Green Party would fund an Income Guarantee for every New Zealander.

“Our Ending Poverty Together plan would redesign the tax system, including increasing the corporate tax rate back to what it was over 10 years ago.

“Raising the corporate tax rate - and using the money to fund our Income Guarantee - is a simple and effective way for large corporations to pay their fair share, so we can make sure everyone in and out of work has the peace of mind that they can always cover life’s essentials.

“When the Reserve Bank and the Monopoly Watchdog says that we need to examine these profits, politicians should take a deeper look. But let us be very clear: refusing to access the resources we all need to make life better for everyone, is a political choice. Only the Greens are willing to redesign our tax system to make sure everyone has what they need,” says Julie Anne Genter.

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