United Future
Since: Aug 2007
Posts: 314

Income Sharing: how it would work

Posted in Discussion Forum at 04:10PM, 16 Aug 2010 ∞ Permalink

Couples with children often face a choice between both parents working full-time, employing others to care for their children, and one parent working full-time and the other staying home to care for the children, possibly on a part-time basis.

For most people, financial considerations play a large role in the decision. Introducing an income-sharing tax credit is a way of enabling parents to have greater choice in their work and caring roles and more choice around their work and home-life balance.

The Taxation (Income-sharing Tax Credit) Bill introduces a new tax credit for couples with dependent children, based on sharing their incomes equally and paying tax based on half of the shared income.

The tax credit will provide additional financial support for couples where one partner is on a higher tax rate than the other.

Couples where both partners are on the same level of combined income will effectively pay the same combined amount of personal income tax, regardless of how much each partner earns. ... Read the full text of this article.

Christina Reymer
Since: Jul 2010
Posts: 3

Posted at 04:10PM, 16 Aug 2010 ∞ Permalink

This is big. This Bill gives recognition for the unpaid work of parenting, which is still done largely by women.

In 1893 we got the vote. Finally today, after 117 years, we get recognition for the unpaid work it has always been assumed women just ‘do’ for nothing.

Kate Sheppard in 1896 argued “That where a woman elects to superintend her own household, and be the mother of children, there shall be a law attaching a certain share of her husband’s earnings or income for her separate use, payable, if she so desire it, into her separate account.”

This is about at-home parents gaining economic independence. They will pay taxes as individuals on their own share of family income, and the status of “dependent” is finally removed from our lexicon.

All parents work, but only some of it is paid. How they choose to divide their time between paid and unpaid work as individuals and as a couple is their business, and every couples’ situation is different. The income they earn should be shared equally them, as is their responsibility for the children, and their ownership of their house or whatever property they own as a family. Why not the family income?

Daniel
Since: Aug 2010
Posts: 1

Posted at 09:09AM, 17 Aug 2010 ∞ Permalink

Can I *strongly* suggest you get a "calculator" on the United Future homepage so that people can work out how the income sharing concept would affect them?

This may drive a lot of web traffic to the site.

Also, do you have a form/template for a petition or letter of support to be sent to the select committee so that the NZ public can express their views about income sharing? Ideally something not overtly partisan, or even completely non-partisan, would be good.

Great policy UF! Let's see if we can get it through.

Daniel

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