Seymour DavidDAVID SEYMOUR (Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Chair. I'm very pleased to take a call on what I believe is probably the most important single part debated in this House each year and I want to just spell out—because I think sometimes things get rushed over a little bit here—what it means. We're debating Part 1 Annual rates of income tax" and it says "Income tax imposed by section BB 1 (Imposition of income tax) of the Income Tax Act 2007 must for the 2020-21 tax year"—that's the one just about to finish on 31 March—"be paid at the basic rates specified in schedule 1 of that Act." If you are to go to the Income Tax Act 2007 Schedule 1 it says if you're a New Zealander and you earn income you must pay 10.5 percent of that income to the IRD on everything you earn between zero and $14000. OK that doesn't sound too bad. Then on every dollar from $14001 up to $48000 you've got to pay 17.5 percent and then on every dollar from $48001 up to $70000 you have to pay 30 percent of the income you earn to the IRD. And from $70001 onwards it's 33 percent—almost exactly a third of every dollar you earn gets taken off you by the IRD and put into the Treasury's coffers.There's nothing more fundamental to what Parliament does than deciding what percentage of your hard-earned income gets taken off you by force by the IRD and put to uses over which you have little if any control. So I think it's worth just outlining what this debate is actually about because there's nothing in my view more important that Parliament does other than giving consent to tax. No taxation without representation—that's what this debate is about. I make another observation about what it means and Mr Chair I could take quite a few calls on this because it's sort of a favourite subject and it's important to a lot of people personally and to the long-term future of the New Zealand culture and its economy. But for the rest of this call let me just give you one useful piece of information I think that the IRD website provides about how much tax different people pay on different incomes because what it says is that people who earn $150000-plus—that is 3 percent of New Zealanders—pay 24 percent of all of the income tax in this country.Chlöe Swarbrick: It's progressive.DAVID SEYMOUR: That is one in 30 people pay almost a quarter—one-fourth—of all the income tax. Chlöe Swarbrick here who's a quick study she said "It's progressive." Well Chlöe Swarbrick not much gets past you. Actually of course it's progressive but the point of the story is I don't think most people realise quite how progressive our current tax rates are that 3 percent of New Zealanders end up paying 24 percent of all income tax. Chlöe Swarbrick: How does that compare internationally?DAVID SEYMOUR: I get people who come to me—oh and then Chlöe Swarbrick she's saying "What about internationally?" and that's the thing that the left love to do. When things aren't going their way they say "Oh there's 200 countries in the world I think I can think of one where things are worse." Well that's not the kind of aspirational culture that I think New Zealand should have. At the other end of the spectrum we hear that actually—Chlöe Swarbrick: We're mentioned as a tax haven in the Panama Papers.DAVID SEYMOUR: Oh she's on about the Panama Papers. I mean this is why the Green Party have the sometimes—no disrespect—kooky reputation that they do. But let's bring this back to what it means for New Zealand and its culture. We can also see that people who earn what 16 33 48—people that earn under $30000. That's 48 percent of all taxpayers and what do they pay in total? Thirteen percent of all taxes—income tax that is. So 48 percent of New Zealanders or almost half of all income tax payers pay 13 percent. So when people say it's progressive man is it progressive. On the one hand 3 percent of people end up paying a quarter of all the income tax. On the other hand half the people pay only 13—one-three—percent of the income tax. Man is that progressive and a lot of people say to me "I don't mind so much if only I got a little bit of thanks." because see this Government takes the attitude that actually it's not progressive enough. They feel that if somebody has money it's right to take it and they would like to go further and introduce another tax rate in the next bill like this next year. They will say that actually if you earn over $180000 it's 39c in the dollar—getting up close to half your income gets taken in income tax alone. Now as the Minister rightly stated GST company tax excise tax on your petrol tax on your beer tax on your baccy—that's all separate from this debate. We're not even talking about all the other taxes that people put on your income at some point in the cycle; we're talking about just the PAYE that you pay when you get your wages after working for the fortnight. The effect of these numbers is not just economic it's cultural. The effect of these tax rates that this Parliament this committee is being asked to recommend to the people of New Zealand is that we are putting mediocrity and tall poppy syndrome writ large in our tax code and we're putting a simple efficient meritocratic tax system to the back of the bus. See we teach our children in New Zealand something like this: go to school listen to your teacher get home do your homework learn work hard—be nice in other words—and if you do all that and you do well in your exams you might get skills that turn into qualifications and those qualifications can turn to higher learning. If you borrow money and get a student loan and upskill yourself that can turn into a job and if you get a job you can get a career and if you get a career you can earn money. Then if you put some aside and save it and invest it carefully eventually you can end up comfortable in this country. That is the New Zealand Dream and the New Zealand story of meritocracy and working hard and succeeding through your own efforts of making a difference in your own life and the lives of those people around you that you care about and that is the dream of New Zealand. But this legislation is saying "Nope if you do all of those things we will triple your tax rate." Remember? Up from 10.5 percent on your first $14000 to more than three times that—33 percent on all income above $70000—and soon a 39 percent tax rate will be introduced as well.I said that this is the most important debate on a single clause that our Parliament has all year because it's so much more than a technicality. It decides how much of whose money is taken by the IRD at the behest of this Parliament when they get out study hard work save and invest. In the long term it's more than just numbers; it's our culture. It's a choice. It is a conscious choice that we are going to say to kids who do all the things we ask of them who listen to their teacher do their homework study hard do well on their exams work diligently be nice save some of the money they earn and invest it carefully. We say "If you do all that kids guess what? We're going to take it off you."That is what this legislation is about. It is an affront to the values that saw New Zealanders of every class creed and race make heroic voyages to the edge of the known world often at the time to give their kids a better life. If we were serious about the future of New Zealand we wouldn't be passing these progressive taxes. We would have a flat tax that says that if you do things right the money is yours to keep. Thank you Mr Chair."