“The Green Party are not joking when they say they are going to tax you even after death with an inheritance tax,” he said.
“That flies in the face of what most New Zealanders work for through their lives – to leave something for their children to have a better life than they had had.”
Act Party leader David Seymour isn’t a fan of the Green Party’s new policies. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
The Greens policy includes a 33% tax on inheritance or gifts valued above $1 million, although family farms and the family home would be exempt.
The person receiving the inheritance or gift would pay the tax and it’s estimated to hit approximately 1100 people a year. It would make $4.1b over four years.
At the same time, the party would change income tax by introducing a $10,000 tax-free threshold followed by adjustments to the rest of the tax brackets, with a new 45% threshold for income over $160,000.
Seymour claimed the Greens’ policies created a “culture that opposes success” and told people that if they have done well, they are “fair game”.
“We actually need more success, more billion-dollar companies, more high-paying jobs, more experts and more people prepared to take a risk.
“The real greed is wanting to go to the ballot box and vote to be given other people’s money at their expense.”
He added that wealth inequality is not a problem “so long as all people have the opportunity to do better”.
“If you think about the people who’ve become very wealthy in New Zealand, they’ve all started from nothing.
“You know, Graham Hart was a tow truck driver. The Mowbrays grew up relatively poor in rural Waikato and built a billion-dollar company.
“You know Rod Drury was not a wealthy guy but he has created a billion-dollar company that succeeds all over the world. We should want more of that success.”
National’s Simeon Brown responded to the Greens’ announcement by claiming the “smorgasbord of new taxes” would help Labour pay for its promises.
“What the Greens are proposing is economic lunacy,” Brown said.
“Their tax proposals would be a wrecking ball for economic growth. They would discourage investment, drive away talent and capital and make it harder for businesses to grow, create jobs and lift wages.”
Labour’s Chris Hipkins said his party had been very clear it would only implement its proposed capital gains tax and would not “support other new taxes like an inheritance tax or a wealth tax”.
Earlier today, National promised to make KiwiSaver compulsory for all New Zealand workers.
Seymour also took aim at this, saying that the 12% KiwiSaver contribution proposed will be disruptive to New Zealanders.
“I think it’s a policy that needs a lot more scrutiny than it has so far.”
He said the money would “forcibly” come out of employees’ remuneration policies.
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