Asked Which New Taxes Are Coming, PM Names Two That Already Exist

Christopher Luxon was asked on Morning Report which new taxes National would introduce if it is re-elected. He answered by pointing to existing policy, naming the fuel excise tax and an accommodation levy. Both would take more money off people than they currently do. Neither counts as a new tax, because the tax already exists and only the amount is changing. The question was about cost. The answer was about the filing category.

This is a useful distinction, and it belongs entirely to the Government rather than to the person filling the tank. An excise that goes up is the same excise it always was, in the way that a rent increase is the same rent. The accommodation levy has been under discussion long enough to count as furniture. Describing both as existing policy is accurate, and being accurate in that particular way is the whole reason to phrase it like that.

None of this is hidden. The excise is public, the levy is public, and the Government has not pretended otherwise. What it has done is answer a question about new taxes without conceding that anything new is happening to anyone. Voters can price that in before October, once they have finished pricing in the fuel. The tax is not new. The bill is.