Parker DavidTAXATION (BUDGET 2021 AND REMEDIAL MEASURES) BILLFirst ReadingHon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Revenue): I present a legislative statement on the Taxation (Budget 2021 and Remedial Measures) Bill.SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon DAVID PARKER: I move That the Taxation (Budget 2021 and Remedial Measures) Bill be now read a first time. This bill's pretty short. It's a four-page bill. It is necessary as a consequence of the Budget which is why we're passing it under urgency today. The Budget outlined by the Minister of Finance today is of course focused on securing the recovery of our economy and investing in the wellbeing of New Zealanders. As we heard from the Minister of Finance today and the Prime Minister we are rebuilding the economy to be better stronger and fairer and the Budget documents show that there is a lower debt track than was previously forecast lower unemployment higher employment growth and the ability to increase core benefit levels in a way that is necessary. This will speed our recovery from the impact of COVID-19 and the other initiatives in the Budget will also assist the economy to be more productive more sustainable and more equitable. On the more equitable front this really is important for our country. We know that the people hardest hit by the economic impact of COVID are often those least equipped to deal with it. Although I've heard criticisms today from the Opposition as to the increases in benefit levels I would remind people on the other side of the House that even after these increases someone who's on the job seeker benefit earns less than $350 per week to pay for their rent their clothing their food. And as the Prime Minister most eloquently said in her speech it's not as if—as we heard from the ACT Party's David Seymour—people will not have an incentive to work because the difference between benefit levels and work for the vast majority of New Zealanders remains a great difference. That said we always in this country try to make sure that working families will be better off in work than on a benefit and at the margin there always are a few people who are at that intersection. We take care of that in New Zealand in a number of ways including through the minimum family tax credit. That's what this bill is about. It changes the threshold for the minimum family tax credit.The minimum family tax credit tops up the incomes of working families to ensure that they're financially better off in work than being on a benefit. Therefore when benefit rates and thresholds are increased the tax credit must also be increased to maintain that margin. So what this bill does is propose an increase to the minimum family tax credit threshold from $30576 per year after tax to $31096 per year after tax. It's estimated that 4800 people will be helped by this change including 200 families who will be newly eligible to receive this tax credit. The increased minimum family tax credit threshold will apply from 1 July 2021.The other measure in this bill is technical. It's a minor remedial matter to correct a drafting error in the Child Support Amendment Act 2021. The Child Support Amendment Act 2021 mistakenly stated that the relevant child support late payment penalty changes would apply from 1 April 2021. It should've stated that those changes were to apply from the earlier of a date set by Order in Council or 1 April 2022. Correcting the application date error will bring the law in line with what was originally intended. It's a small drafting error but it's important that it's rectified as otherwise it creates significant practical implications for Inland Revenue's systems.In conclusion as we rebuild our economy and adjust benefit rates in today's Budget this bill ensures that families remain better off when working and by receiving the minimum family tax credit this means they'll be better off than they would be on a benefit. I thank the House for giving this bill its urgent attention and commend it to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to.