Do dairy farms pay enough tax?

Jules, to be fair, i'm sure at least some of the older folk, and certainly the government, still remember, or at least remember stories, of what happend the last time there was a serious effort to do as you say. something about port strikes almost causing the entire country's economy to shut down? (due to a chain reaction caused by an argument in a freezing works about who was supposed to wash cups, if memory serves).

i'm substuantually less interested in how much tax they pay than in how much of a negative impact on the enviroment, and how much wasted economic potentual, comes about as a result of using land unsuited for dairy farming for.. well... dairy farming. most of canterbury is Not good dairy land. you want to be farming sheep and growing barley here. heck, we had our regional enviromental authority disolved because the dairy farmers threw a hissy fit over the fact that it was doing it's job right and not just rolling over and giving them priority access to everything. i'm still trying to figure out how better export numbers justify increased local prices. so, whether farmers are avoiding taxes, doing badly, or whatever, the dairy industry as a whole has issues. (the jumpiness of this message brought to you by 'Chargone typing it at 2:47 am while in need of sleep')

If dairy farming isn't profitable then why is it that land has been bought up flat out for the last few years with people paying top dollars even overseas companies .Like with the crafar farms etc

It just hit me!! Most of those who scroll through this site obviously have little or no accumen when it comes to the logistics of running one's own business (farming or otherwise). Do not understand how to even read a balance sheet. So obviously this site is attracted to shiftless, unemployable, untrainable, dole bludging riff raff who's entire mental ability is consumed by ensuring that their own two eye brows to not collectively grow into one.

The trouble with us New Zealanders we are a
appathetic nation we cry amongst ourselves and do nothing just moan and carry on all hard done by ( which we are in a lot of ways) not like our cross the ditch neighbors, if they feel an injustice is done they down tools and take it to the government enmass and get heard! whats wrong with us this country is unbalanced, top heavy!

People that are getting caught up thinking farmers don't pay enough tax just have a poor understanding of basic high school accounting.

Yes Bill English a couple more are farm owners in the Nat Government,living off the animals own backs,plus their $hundreds of thousands they get from the tax payers each year and they also got the greatest wage lift,with tax exemptions to go with it.Yet those rich bastards still want more and to get it they want to stuff up the lives that are in need just to get it.

you think John Keys will lower himself to read these comments? what the average New Zealanders feel, cheated!! NO he thinks he's too important and we are just the mindless sheep he and his cronies herd into a pen and shear us of our assets.

The tax system is so set up for this, why would you bother paying taxes if you were a farmer. Write off everything, when a profit is made just re-invest it in more land or capital, which you can then use to write off further interest payemnts and depreciation. Then retire when you sell off your farm for 5 million having never paid a cent in tax. Then move off to the Gold Coast, and the next owner can start off all over again. Oh I almost forgot, make sure you lobby David Carter for government subsidies during droughts or floods.

Who gets a huge payout for milk and solids from dairy factories at the end of the year????That poor little farmer those who cry to the government when there is a drought and when it rains and floods they cry out again then they get hand outs from the welfare to help them through.What happens to a shop who gets no customers for weeks?can they go to the welfare for a hand out??and any other businesses who are finding it so hard to survive.