Michael Wood – 
Hard working Kiwi taxpayers have every reason to feel outraged by revelations that a massive company like Apple, with billions of dollars of New Zealand revenue, has paid no New Zealand tax over ten years.
Nurses, cleaners, office workers, and small business owners, who pay their fair share of tax to support public services in our country, will be dismayed at these latest revelations.
We know that this is the tip of the iceberg for big multi-nationals being let off the hook by the National Government being completely asleep at the wheel.
Multinational tax avoiders
Cabinet was officially warned about the huge scale of multinational tax avoidance five years ago, yet as late as last year the Revenue Minister was saying there was no problem and that he had seen no evidence to suggest New Zealand was missing out. But it is obvious that we are missing out.
The Government has been forced into belated action by the media and the opposition, and even then are refusing to consult on the option of a diverted profit tax, which has been employed to deal with this issue in Australia and the UK.
New Zealanders expect their government to take a stand when it was revealed that a multinational company has been avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in tax,
It is astonishing that Judith Collins refused to front up to the Herald about this sort of behaviour. She was willing to be tough with 17 year olds in souped-up Mazda’s, but not with major multi-nationals that are ripping off Kiwi taxpayers.
Fair Tax System
Labour stands for a fair tax system in which everyone pays their fair share. We will implement a better multi-national tax policy and insist on a tough, credible package that puts an end to rorts like these.
Editor’s Note: Michael Woodhouse is elected Member of Parliament from Mt Roskill and Labour Party’s Revenue Spokesman.
Radio New Zealand has quoted the New Zealand Herald as saying that the government was refusing to comment on a report that technology giant Apple has paid no tax in New Zealand for the past 10 years.
“In a statement, Revenue Minister Judith Collins said she could not comment on individual cases, but there was a minority of multinationals that tried to reduce their taxes. She said that was unfair and she was working to strengthen the tax rules.”
Photo: Judith Collins
