Opposition to higher taxes broken down
The recent Fairfax poll asked respondents if they support or opposed raising taxes to pay for new spending. 69% said they were opposed and 25% in favour which means the net disapproval was -44%.
I was interested in the breakdown by party vote, which Fairfax kindly supplied. The net disapproval for supporters of each party against higher taxes was:
- National voters: -59% net disapproval
- Labour voters: -23% net disapproval
- Green voters -0.5% net disapproval
- NZ First voters -55% net disapproval
No surprise National voters are against higher taxes. Pleasing to see NZ First voters just as strongly against. What was fascinating is that most Labour voters are against increasing taxes to pay for new spending. Only 36% supported that with 59% opposed. The Greens were the only party not to be strongly opposed and they were split pretty much down the middle.
Also interesting to look at the demographics of opposition to higher taxes. They include:
- Under 30s: -38% net disapproval
- Maori: -50% net disapproval
- Europeans: -40% net disapproval
- Students: -32% net disapproval
- No qualifications: -67% net disapproval
- Post-grads: -22% net disapproval
- HH income under $50k: -46% net disapproval
- HH income over $100k: -32% net disapproval
So three fascinating things here:
- More Maori than Europeans oppose raising taxes to pay for more spending
- Those with no qualifications at all are far more opposed than the small number of people with a post-graduate degree
- Those with household incomes below $50K more opposed than those with HH income over $100k
So if parties go into this election vowing to raise taxes to pay for more spending, they will be seriously out of touch. As we head back into surplus, I want parties to be offering tax cuts, not tax increases.
The detailed results are here, for those interested – Fairfax poll breakdown