Have Your Say – Polls
We understand clearly that the only reason for our existence is to represent the voice of the people in our parliament. We believe that any party that is not constantly in touch with the views of the people is simply not doing its job. In this space you can read what others think on key issues, and you can let us know your views.
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Income splitting is needed now more than ever. Time invested with kids early on has been shown to be hugely beneficial. Parents are best placed to look after their children. Well done United Future.
Posted by liberalcentrist 2009-08-22 15:54:03.16This is the single most important issue to me and why I'm voting United Future. It is absurd New Zealand doesn't already allow income splitting. Instead they effectively penalize families, especially those who chose to have a stay at home parent.
I raise a family with 2 young children and a wife who stays at home doing an exceptional job raising our children and I get get taxed at the same rate as a bachelor. I call this the "FAMILY PENALTY".
Why this issue doesn't get more priority is mind-boggling to me.
Posted by briangould 2008-11-01 10:23:03.243There is no good reason why we can't recognise the work of parents by allowing them to split their incomes for tax purposes. Perhaps the introduction of Income Splitting could be a distinct value add from United Future to the next government?
Posted by liberalcentrist 2008-06-16 17:36:34.073Income splitting could make such a great difference - as a mum of two children it would be so good to have a real financial choice whether to go back to work or not. Too often work is a necessity, not a choice. About time NZ had policy that acknowledges the role of parents at home.
Posted by Gina Woodfield 2008-06-10 12:52:16.604As a full time mother for 6 years I found it unfair that my husband was taxed as a single man yet was supporting a wife and 2 children. No recognition of the cost to us to be parents... in a day when people are not having children because finacially it is hard. The hardest thing I found that as a person with no income I had no financil say. I couldn't make any banking decisions with out my husband say so. yet he could go in and make decisions without my say so. Because banks are economists, legally i had no money he did. Income splitting will empower the stay at home parent and give them money in their own legal right. Couples owning their own business can do it. It seems only fair that PAYE people can too.
Posted by Claire-lucia Ingram 2008-06-09 15:27:29.594Congratulations - this is a great idea (and the rest of your tax policy is quite good too) but I would really like to see income splitting available for couples without dependent children also.
Posted by linda_n 2008-06-07 17:32:52.777There have been multiple articles that are positive about income splitting in the media (John Roughan, NZ Herald) and recently Alex Penk in NBR. As long as enough people respond to the discussion document (go to our latest news page on this site), and back the idea, it will have a positive future indeed. After all, splitting income and not families is what we need.
Posted by Denise Krum 2008-05-28 09:13:01.895I made the point to a post on another topic that income splitting is not our sole tax policy. It is one of a series of policies, the remainder of which will be rolled out over the next few weeks and do address many of the issues not dealt with by income splitting.
Posted by Peter Dunne 2008-05-12 14:00:50.243Fairness is important Dave, I agree. But consider this. Anyone in a business can split the income with their spouse (just by having them as a business partner) - isn't it fair that everyone have the same advantage?
Also - this is not a policy aimed at the lowest earners in society... I don't think there is any moral obligation that ALL tax changes benefit that group only. In fact, over the last decade or so policies have only seemed to help that group (eg working with families). During that time the middle income earners have been paying proportionally more tax (bracket creep) and have lost the choice they once had to have one of them home for the kids - at least after school. I think a policy that empowers people to make choices is a fair one.
Posted by John Pickering 2008-05-01 20:17:47.145Incone splitting does seem a good idea- but is it fair that the worth of a non-earning partner is measured against their partners income? A former cleaner whose partner is earning 60k will get 500% more tax relief than a stay at home accountant who whose partner earns 36,000, thus widening the gap between richer and poorer families.
Posted by dave 2008-04-29 20:03:49.115