As a continuation of our blogs on what we do know of the tax changes proposed by the Labour Government we look today at some of the specific levies and taxes proposed.
The Labour Government has promised a number of new levies and other charges are to be implemented to either target specific areas where they believe there is exploitation or to fund specific funds or expenditure.
The first of these levies has already been confirmed and this is the Auckland regional fuel tax. The new Minister of Transport Phil Twyford has confirmed that this is likely to be 10 cents a litre. While Auckland has been confirmed, the Minister said on Sunday the Government is still working through whether other regions would be able to implement a similar tax however, on Monday pledged no such tax would be implemented in Wellington.
In addition to the regional fuel tax the Government has indicated its intention to impose a royalty on water being bottled for commercial use but explicitly will not tax water use by households and councils. They have also indicated a $25 levy on international visitors.
The number of specific taxes already indicated begs the question of what others might be in the works.
These proposals show a level of uncertainty over what will and won’t be taxed going forward. The amount of exclusions and inclusions already indicated also lead to a certain level of necessary complexity which we have already seen with other rules such as GST and residential property. These inclusions and exclusions tend to complicate what should be a simple regime.
Obviously as more information comes to hand we will keep you updated.