Kiwis are split over whether the promise of tax cuts will influence their vote at the upcoming general election, according to the latest 1News Verian Poll.
National have been campaigning on the promise of tax cuts, through their foreign buyers tax policy.
The policy aims to give tax cuts to Kiwis, in part funded by reopening the housing market to foreign buyers and taxing them 15% on purchases over $2m.
The foreign buyer tax is planned to bring in a large source of revenue to pay for the party's income band adjustments and other spending in its tax plan.
The plan has been criticised by economists, who say National's numbers don't add up.
In the latest 1News Verian poll, voters were asked: Will tax cuts influence the way you vote in the upcoming election?
Just 16% said it definitely will, while 27% said it probably will.
Twenty nine per cent said it probably won't, while 21% said it definitely won't.
It's not great news for National, given another 1News Verian poll earlier this month showed there was more opposition than support for the party's foreign buyers policy.
However, National leader Christopher Luxon remains convinced it's what Kiwis want.
"New Zealanders want tax relief and particularly low and middle income New Zealanders who are doing it incredibly tough. These are the people who are in the squeezed middle. They wake up every day, go to work get their kids to school take on a second job and they still can't get ahead," Luxon said today.
But Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Kiwis were focused on more than one issue this election.
"I think they are thinking about their future of the country," Hipkins said in Northland today.
"The majority of New Zealanders now can see National's numbers don't add up and actually to pay for their promises they are going to have to cut deeply into the things that New Zealanders care about."
Labour plans to remove GST off fruit and vegetables, while Te Pāti Māori want to go a step further and take it off all food.
In our 1News Verian poll, we asked: Would you support GST being taken off all food?
Two-thirds of people support the idea, while 26% oppose. The rest didn't know or didn't want to say.
GST is taken off most foods in Australia, and an expert here says doing that here could cost around $3 billion in lost revenue, and is not convinced.
"I don't think anyone who understands tax thinks this is a good policy just because of the lack of targeting of the policy settings. It doesn't really achieve what is what it sets out to achieve which is to get lower income earners to be able to afford more food," Victoria University Tax Professor Lisa Marriott said.
There isn't much political appetite either.
"It has a huge price tag and we're just not in a position to be able to do that," Hipkins said.
Luxon agreed: "That's not our policy because frankly taking GST off food becomes very complex and we think it's a very clean tax mechanism."
There will be more tax talk on Friday when National releases its full spending plan.
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