It’s not a tax, it’s a levy!

Newshub reports:

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says despite plans to introduce a levy-funded unemployment insurance scheme, he hasn’t broken Labour’s election promise of no new taxes – yet. 

Under the proposal, announced at Thursday’s Budget, if someone is made unemployed they could get 80 percent of their previous wages, rather than the much smaller Jobseeker Benefit. 

No funding has been allocated for the ACC-style scheme yet. ACC is funded through levies separate to taxes, and this scheme would be funded the same way, Robertson told Newshub Nation on Saturday.

The ACC employee levy is calculated as a percentage of income, and taken directly out of your pay packet and given to IRD.

It is identical to a tax, except for its name.

The new scheme means every working New Zealander will have a decrease in their after tax wages.

It is clearly a(nother) broken promise.