Average lifetime tax bill is $1.48 million

The Taxpayers’ Union has announced:

• Over a lifetime, an average household (gross income of $98,818) will pay $1.48 million in taxes (at 2016 prices).
• This is equivalent to the total income of a household over 15 years.
• Of the $1.48 million, approximately $826,000 is paid in income tax (56% of the total tax bill), $375,000 in GST, $121,000 in council rates, and $40,000 in petrol taxes.

This is why people should take more notice of wasteful Government spending and support lower taxes. You end up paying more in tax than you do for your house.

• Households earning more or less than the average take even longer to pay their lifetime tax bills.
• The average household in the bottom ten percent of income earners will pay $381,187 in direct and indirect taxes, taking 18½ years to pay.
• An average household in the top ten percent of income earners will pay $2,772,842 in direct and indirect taxes, taking 20½ years to pay.

So if you are in the top 10% of income earners, you spend over 20 years working to fund the Government!

“Kiwi’s tax bills are too high – and growing because the Government has not adjusted income tax thresholds to match wage inflation.  Lower taxes don’t mean cuts to services, they mean a focus on cutting out wasteful spending.  We hope Thursday’s Budget indicates renewed fiscal discipline, rather than loosening of the purse strings now that there are surpluses.”

If National can’t deliver meaningful tax relief now, when will they?