If you’re a New Zealander like me, you’ll probably know that there’s an election coming up, and good old Don Brash of the National Party, like so many politicians at election time, is advocating tax cuts. Apparently the Government can afford it, assuming they get rid of some of the less-important functions of the government.

Public Address have put together a handy little tax break calculator! You enter your salary, and punch in the percentages of tax you want to pay, and it tells you how much money per week you’ll be scoring. w00t! NZD$202 extra a week

However, it goes forward to explain how much money it’ll need to recoup from giving the tax break to the nation. For me it was NZD$3,935 Millionbut luckily it goes on to offer suggestions of things it could get rid of, you know, to keep the government running smoothly. You know, the controversial things, like hip-hop tours, woman’s affairs, artist’s dole.

For example: Getting rid of the Wananga O Aotearoa? Sure, but what about all the students? — they’ll still be interested in tertiary education — onto student loans they go…
Largest 1-year funding the Wananga ever recieved: $239 Million
Cost of a third of ex-Wananga students going elsewhere: $220 Million
Net Money Recovered: NZD$19 Million.
Still to Recover: NZD$3,916 Million.

Ooo big savings. NOT.

Seriously, I think I can safely assume that National is unable to give a significant tax break. As the fellows at Public Address said:

There’s a word for that, and it’s nothing so prim as “baloney.”

For the record, I’m happy with how I’m being taxed. Maybe the rich should be taxed more, and the poor taxed less. What do you think?