Goldsmith Paul: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goldsmith Paul: Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 25 October 2012. Volume:685;Page:6245. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to speak on this bill the Taxation (Annual Rates Returns Filing and Remedial Matters) Bill. I was pleased to receive and listen to David Parker’s history lesson on tax a couple of speeches ago. He talked about the great contribution that the Labour Party made in the 1940s and 1950s to New Zealand. Back then of course Labour bequeathed top tax rates in the high 70 percent range—78 percent I think it was. Company tax was also up around that region. That really is what David Parker I think wants and would hope for— 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Remember Muldoon? 
PAUL GOLDSMITH 
: —and so does Clayton Cosgrove. Why do they not come out and scream it and say: “Let us go back to those limits.” like our friend the French President is trying to reassert today? That is what they stand for and I am sure the Greens would support that as well—getting it back up into the 70 percent range. That is what we need to get the economy going again! 
I suppose tax is an important thing. It is a big part of politics. Taking money off some people in order to give it to other people is nine-tenths of what politics is about and there are a lot of moral hazards in the process of taking from one to give to the other. It all comes down to perceptions of fairness. What is fair? On the other side they tend to concentrate on fairness being about smoothing out incomes in order to help the poor. There is a strong element of redistribution in our tax system reflecting that view. On the other hand it is also fair to reward effort. I am sure the people over there will understand that if they were doing a good job as a caucus member they would expect to be rewarded with promotion and that leads to all sorts of arguments. 
It is also a question of whether it is fair to debase the currency by printing money for example which would dilute savings. I do not think it is. Is it fair to tax capital gains as Labour and the Greens want to do so much when half of capital gain is purely inflation? Why should you be taxed for that? That does not seem very fair to me. 
It was also interesting I thought to hear Russel Norman talking about the signals that the tax system sends through the emissions trading scheme and all that. He understands the logic that if you do not want something you tax it and if you are trying to steer people away from something you tax it but again he does not seem to accept that same logic when it comes to high income tax rates which he always advocates for. He does not accept that if you have high income tax rates you may undermine people’s incentive to work which is a pretty strong signal to send through the tax system. 
So by way of those broader comments I want to draw a little bit closer to the bill itself. This bill is really the latest piece of tax legislation aimed at making the tax system simpler and fairer for people and businesses. It comes after some very substantial changes to the tax system that this Government brought through a few years ago and continues with maintaining and keeping the tax system fit and healthy. 
It also responds to circumstances. Supplementary Order Paper 98 which relates to benefiting quake victims is an important part of this legislation. It has been nearly 18 months since that earthquake and this Supplementary Order Paper brings in the whole issue of tax depreciation roll-over rules changing the year in which income or expenditure is recognised in some circumstances because of the earthquake and extending roll-over relief for properties held on revenue account that have not been demolished. I think these are all important things to be introduced. I support this third reading and the sooner this legislation becomes law the better for the country. Thank you.