NEW POLL: Kiwis want Nicola Willis to hold firm on tax relief

A new Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll has revealed that 53% of New Zealanders believe that the Government should continue to deliver the tax relief that was promised by the National Party during the election campaign. 29% of respondents thought that the tax relief should not proceed while 18% were unsure. 

There is majority or plurality of support for this proposal across all gender, age and area demographics. Supporters of the governing parties are strongly in favour of continuing with tax relief while Green voters are the most strongly opposed. 

Voters were asked: “The National Party's tax policy at the election promised to shift tax bracket thresholds to partially compensate for the effect of inflation. This would reduce the tax on full time workers from between $24 and $51 a fortnight depending on income. Proponents of the tax cuts say they will provide relief to families, while opponents say they are unaffordable. Do you think the Government should deliver the tax cuts that were in National's election policy?” The full polling report can be found here.

Commenting on the poll results, Taxpayers’ Union Head of Campaigns, Callum Purves, said: 

“Contrary to the prevailing narrative among the political commentariat, this poll demonstrates that Kiwis are strongly of the view that Nicola Willis should hold firm on the tax relief commitments National made during the election.

“Government spending has increased by 84 per cent since 2017 yet the quality of services continues to decline across the public sector. It’s the worst of both worlds: New Zealanders are paying more and getting less.

“Not only have Kiwis not had a tax break for 14 years but the failure to adjust income tax brackets for inflation has forced them to pay more and more of their wages in tax each year. The Government must deliver on its tax relief promises while going further and faster to cut back the bureaucratic bloat in Wellington.”

MEDIA SUMMARY STATEMENT:

Any media or other organisation that reports on this poll should include the following summary statement:

The poll was conducted by Curia Market Research Ltd for the NZ Taxpayers’ Union. It is a random poll of 1,000 adult New Zealanders and is weighted to the overall adult population. It was conducted by phone (landlines and mobile) and online between 2 April and 4 April 2024, has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1% and 5.6% were undecided on the party vote question. The full results are at www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxreliefpoll 
 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The scientific poll was conducted by Curia Market Research and commissioned by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. As is well known, but for full disclosure, David Farrar co-founded the Taxpayers' Union and previously served on its board. He is also a Director of Curia Market Research Ltd.

The Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll was conducted from Tuesday 02 April to Thursday 04 April 2024. The median response was collected on Wednesday 3 April 2024. The sample size was 1,000 eligible New Zealand voters: 800 by phone and 200 by online panel. The sample selection for the phone panel is from those who are contactable on a landline or mobile phone selected at random from 15,000 nationwide phone numbers plus a random selection from an online panel (that complies with ESOMAR guidelines for online research). 

The results are weighted to reflect the overall voting adult population in terms of gender, age, and area. Based on this sample of 1,000 respondents, the maximum sampling error (for a result of 50%) is +/- 3.1%, at the 95% confidence level. Results for sub-groups such as age and area will have a much higher margin of error and not seen as precise. 

The range for the reduction in tax paid by full time workers of between $24 and $51 a fortnight depending on income is taken from ‘Appendix C: Income Relief Tables’ on page 24 of National’s Back Pocket Boost policy document available here, which was confirmed as part of the coalition agreements with the ACT and NZ First parties. 

This poll should be formally referred to as the “Taxpayers’ Union – Curia Poll”.