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AAP
AAP
Politics
Ben McKay

NZ tax attack leaves Ardern's Labour flat

NZ National leader Chris Luxon is making new taxes the battleground, against the Ardern government. (Erik Anderson/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

The New Zealand opposition has taken a leaf out of an Australian playbook, brewing a storm over tax ahead of the next election.

However, the National party denies concocting misleading campaigns as it attempts to unseat Jacinda Ardern's Labour government.

Under new leader Chris Luxon, National has rebounded and is in an election-winning position - just - according to the latest TVNZ-Kantar public poll.

In an interview for right-wing podcast The Platform last month, Mr Luxon said National had improved its messaging and had been able to train Kiwi media onto government misgivings.

One of those messages is tax.

In recent months, National has stepped up attacks on what they claim are new taxes from Ms Ardern's government: a jobs tax, tenant tax, a light rail tax - even a ute tax - and more.

In inflation-ravaged New Zealand, a lower tax bill has obvious appeal.

Heating the issue further is Ms Ardern's 2020 campaign pledge not to introduce new taxes or lift income tax this term.

However, Labour questions the opposition's attacks, saying some of the criticism distorts meaning.

What National calls a "jobs tax" is what Labour calls an income insurance scheme.

A pet project of Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, the scheme levies 1.4 per cent of Kiwis salaries - half paid by them, half by their employers - for a safety net should they lose their job.

"People need to think about it like they think about ACC," Mr Robertson said, referencing the Accident Compensation Corporation, New Zealand's famous no-fault injury scheme.

"It's there, you're paying into it, your employer is paying into it so that when the worst happens, like you're made redundant or you get sick, you get cancer ... it's what many other countries do to protect people."

National has launched a "Stop the Jobs Tax" petition, gathering 20,000 signatures.

There's also the "KiwiSaver tax", an attempt by the government to charge superannuation providers the same amount of GST for fees charged to Kiwis.

That policy was abandoned the day after it was introduced to parliament, such was the backlash.

Then there's the 'ute tax' rebadging of the government's "clean car discount", which sees fees levied or rebates offered to cars sold according to how heavily they pollute.

National says a lack of low-emission ute options will hit regional Kiwis and farmers hard.

The "tenant tax" has echoes of a 2019 Australian election issue when Bill Shorten unsuccessfully campaigned on negative gearing reform.

It is Labour's effort to help first homebuyers by phasing out the ability for landlords to claim the interest they pay as a tax deduction.

National campaign chair Chris Bishop said any comparison to Australia's fierce tax debates was "reading too much into it".

"Saying something like 'the removal of interest deductibility as a legitimate expense for rental properties' is difficult to get out on a soundbite on TV," he told AAP.

"You've got to find ways to cut through."

On Monday, Ms Ardern hit back at National for its re-badging of the tenant tax.

"The work that we've done to ensure that the playing field is level for first home buyers, for them to re-characterise those initiatives in that way, I don't think it's a fair representation," she said.

National is also pledging to re-index tax rates to stop bracket creep, and to remove the top tax rate of 39 per cent - which kicks in at $180,000.

On that front, Labour is kicking back, given the recent market response in the UK to proposals to do similarly.

"I don't think it's unfair to draw those comparisons ... it's up to National to answer for their policies," Ms Ardern said.

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