Williams Andrew: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 02 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4279. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First on the Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill. It is very interesting that I am giving this speech while the Olympics are on because much of what we have heard from the National benches could be aligned to some of the Olympics in the last week. In particular I have seen at the Olympics a number of own goals and we have here in this Chamber today basically an admission that the Government has made a number of own goals. It is also almost like watching the rearranging of the deckchairs on the  
Titanic 
. When they talk about tinkering they are quite correct—there is a lot of tinkering going on around the edges in relation to some of these taxation changes rather than addressing the big picture of proper tax reform. 
In respect of this you do wonder whether had this Government not provided those tax reductions for the wealthy a couple of years ago and had it not knocked a billion or two off the taxes of the wealthy it would today be needing to rearrange the deckchairs on the  
Titanic 
 to come up with some of these sorts of nickel-and-dime margins-of-error amounts of tax on the edges. Had the Government actually kept that billion or two from a year or two ago which would have been in the coffers today we would probably be $4 billion or $5 billion better off today 2 years later. It could have done that rather than giving all the mates of this Government—mainly the mates of this Government—some significant tax reductions. 
In that respect I had to smile when I heard the previous speaker Paul Goldsmith talk about “lurching all over the place”. If it is not lurching all over the place to reduce the employer contribution to KiwiSaver from 4 percent to 2 percent a couple of years ago—or last year was it—and then bring it back up to 3 percent this year I do not know what is. It almost feels like many of these Government people were actually sitting in a chair on the  
Titanic 
 while it was going down because they have had to hold on very firmly and watch the KiwiSaver employer contribution start at 4 percent go down to 2 percent and now go up to 3 percent. People out there in “KiwiSaver land” in New Zealand—New Zealanders who genuinely want to have a good savings scheme—must be wondering what is going on with this Government that it can basically play around with such an important scheme year by year. It puts a huge cloud and a huge doubt over the Government’s long-term intentions in terms of KiwiSaver. That is another own goal; that is the second own goal for the day. 
The third own goal is coming up because it says here in the introduction to the bill that it will allow “the capital costs of unsuccessful software development to be tax-deductible”. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Is John Banks involved? 
ANDREW WILLIAMS 
: I wondered whether Dotcom was involved in this and I wondered whether John Banks was involved in this as well because “allowing the capital costs of unsuccessful software development to be tax-deductible” clearly means that people in the software business who have not been that successful—and there are one or two in Coatesville; there are one or two who live out at the Dotcom mansion who in recent times under this Government have not been that successful—are probably hoping this will go through because they will be able to deduct it. Hopefully they will be thankful to this Government that those unsuccessful software developments will be tax deductible. They then will not have to put anything in brown envelopes and maybe give them over desks board tables or dinner tables in a Coatesville mansion. They will know that in the future that will be tax deductible and they will be able to do that quite above board—quite above board—because they know that their unsuccessful software development will be all right. That is another own goal; that is three own goals. It is three nil to the Opposition at the moment—three nil to the Opposition. 
But it gets worse. It gets worse. The next own goal is taxing bonus shares issued by companies. Well holy mackerel! Have we not got bonus shares in State-owned assets for the power companies coming up shortly? Those are also going to be part of this scheme. The bill states that taxes on bonus shares issued by companies are going to be part of this review. Why would that be? Is that not convenient that when you are selling off all the shares in your power companies that you own that I own that you own that he owns and that she owns—that we all currently own—in the future the taxes on bonus shares given out by companies are going to be part of that? This is the grand scheme. This is the fourth own goal so we are up to four nil to the Opposition now. This is incredible; it is amazing. 
It goes on and on. Basically this tinkering around the edges this playing around with all the margins of error in the taxation system is an excuse for this Government over the last couple of years—coming up 4 years now—to make major changes and give major reductions in tax for its mates for its business friends and for its wealthy friends on Paritai Drive who are building $30 million mansions or buying luxury launches on Auckland harbour. The Government is helping them out and giving them reductions in taxation—giving the likes of the former chief executive officer of Telecom who was earning $5 million a year another $5000 a week in savings in tax. It is also giving the Prime Minister John Key another $1000 a week in his back pocket so that he will be better off and can invest in another house in Hawaii maybe or more shares in the Colorado ski fields or more investments in Bankers Trust in the United States—wherever else his $50 million is around the world. Basically a lot of this bill is just tinkering around the edges but not addressing the big picture of proper tax reform.  
New Zealand First has said on the previous bill the Non-bank Deposit Takers Bill that we will support any policy that does try to tighten up taxation and banking issues. We are going to support this bill because there are some merits in it. There are some merits in it. The fact that it is bringing KiwiSaver contributions back up to 3 percent is a good move—it should never have gone down to 2 percent in the first place—as is the fact that it is starting to weed out taxpayers who have not necessarily filed returns when they should have. Again probably most of those who have not done it will be the wealthy mates of those on the other side of the House. Most average Kiwis do not get much in the way of a tax refund. Most of them do not so it does not really apply to— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Especially paper boys. 
ANDREW WILLIAMS 
: —paper boys in particular. How many tax refunds will paper boys get in the next year? Not many. Not many. But the Government did find $14 million from the paper boys and the paper girls of this country a few months ago in the Budget. They will be some of the ones affected in terms of the tinkering around the edges of the taxes. 
But we will support this bill continuing through. Taxation is an important matter in this country. It is important for all 4.5 million New Zealanders who depend on all the services that this country provides and the services that the State does provide to have an efficient and effective taxation system. Some of the provisions in this bill do allow for improvements in that area and therefore New Zealand First will support this bill.