One of Labour’s top priorities is to make it easier to run a business in New Zealand.
Our future depends on healthy small businesses. When our businesses do well, we all do well and we create better opportunities for our children.
That’s why Labour has a suite of policies that will modernise our economy and enable our businesses to grow and flourish.
We’re looking at ways to simplify the tax system because our small businesses are spending too much time and money on tax compliance. If small business owners could simply and easily do their taxes, they’d be able to focus on what they do best: contributing to the economy.
We also need a pool of investment that businesses can draw on to expand and export, upping our national income. A universal Kiwisaver will provide this.
A capital gains tax will encourage people to invest in productive New Zealand businesses rather than speculating on property (this tax will exclude the family home).
We’ll give tax breaks to businesses that invest in research and development, encouraging breakthroughs and innovations we can market to the rest of the world.
The New Zealand of the future will require an energetic, high-skills workforce so our young people are central to our plans: we want to get them into work, education or training.
A procurement policy is a necessity. Kiwi businesses should always be at the front of the queue when the government is considering a big purchase. Taxpayer money should never be spent on overseas products that could be made here by Kiwi businesses for a fair price.
China, the USA, Singapore and many other countries have procurement policies, but in New Zealand, statistics aren’t even kept on the proportion of government contracts awarded to our own businesses.
Meanwhile, we will not let the high dollar strangle New Zealand businesses. We will overhaul the Reserve Bank Act to give proper weight to important economic considerations such as jobs and the exchange rate, not solely to inflation.
New Zealand’s small and medium-sized businesses tend to be good corporate citizens that pay their obligations, yet it’s been estimated that Facebook would pay about 100-times more tax here than it does if it were based in New Zealand and a good corporate citizen. We’re looking at options for a fairer system.
National is the party of big business, not small and medium business. When they introduce additional compliance like requiring employers to collect child support, it’s easy if you have an HR department, but every small business-owner knows the true cost of that kind of regulatory creep. Since 2008 on average 2500 fewer small businesses have been established every year.
Labour will keep things simple. From small business, big businesses are born. Our future depends on healthy small business.
We’re a hardworking and smart nation that deserves an efficient economy, so our businesses can flourish and leave a legacy of prosperity for the next generation.