You say very simplistically "The top 10 percent of all income earners in New Zealand now pay 76% of all net tax. The experts agree such a top heavy system, reliant on the few - discourages growth and investment."Let me restate it..."The top 10 percent of all income earners in New Zealand now recieve 90% of all income and a similar degree of assett ownership. The experts agree such a top heavy system, reliant on the few having sufficient disposable income - discourages growth and investment from any of the rest of the populace."
"Plus it has been shown with tax cuts to the wealthy that they then go and spend more money creating more jobs." NO. No, no, no. Wealthy people are LESS likely to spend their money because they don't NEED to. If a poor person receives more money, they are more likely to spend it than the wealthy person because there a certain neccessities you can't do without. The wealthy already have everything they need, so they are more likely to save.
All this heallthy debate shows that the solution is not easy. Tax avoidance has been a game for years but some people are just too good at it and basically ripping their fellow tax payers off (not the Government) That needs to be fixed. I would agree that Trusts should also be under the spotlight and that nice Mr English is a classic example of someone who thinks it is "within the rules" to claim benefits when living in his trust property which is legally not his. Its an evasion of moral, ethical responsibility. We are good at saying someone should pay..... just not me, Pay what you owe.