Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Sandy Lau: PwC Partner and tax expert on the report finding NZ's population may fall below what's needed to support government spending

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Sandy Lau: PwC Partner and tax expert on the report finding NZ's population may fall below what's needed to support government spending · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Peter Gluckman, Key's former science Advisor's got a population report
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  Speaker 1: out this morning, tells us stuff we kind of already know,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: but brings it all together and says we need a
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  Speaker 1: population strategy. In New Zealand, fertility has fallen to one
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  Speaker 1: point five at one point five y five. This is
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  Speaker 1: a record low with a projected labor shortage of two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand workers by twenty forty five, so
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: fewer tax players. Obvious question who picks up the bill
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: for retirement? Sandy low Is a PwC partner, joins us
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Sandy, Good morning, Good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Ran.
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  Speaker 1: The report sort of paints a picture that we've already
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  Speaker 1: heard before. What sticks out for you?
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  Speaker 2: Ye, So the report itself does cover some of the
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  Speaker 2: ground that has been discussed as a last week, while
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  Speaker 2: in particular the truth both the Treasury and in the
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  Speaker 2: revenue actually the published reports which considers the I guess
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  Speaker 2: the demographic changes that are going to be facing New
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  Speaker 2: Zealand over time. I think put simply as a case
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: of as you've described, we're just not going to have
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  Speaker 2: enough working people working to cover the tax revenue cost
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  Speaker 2: that EXPENSI it is going to be required to I
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  Speaker 2: guess sustained a current structure.
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  Speaker 1: So we don't have enough people working, can't we just
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  Speaker 1: use AI instead of them?
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  Speaker 2: Well, New Zealand's tax base is quite unique in that
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  Speaker 2: it does rely a lot on basically taxes on labor
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  Speaker 2: and on consumptions, which is tax pays paid by people,
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  Speaker 2: and so you know, currently we don't have a specific
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  Speaker 2: tax that address the use of AI and things like that.
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  Speaker 2: So I guess that's the one question. And then the
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  Speaker 2: other pieces I guess where you potentially could think about
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  Speaker 2: AIS around productivity and that's also something that the government
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  Speaker 2: has been discussing for a wee will as well as
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  Speaker 2: the ability to lift museums productivity, which as well as
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  Speaker 2: economic growth, which again might help with the short spat
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  Speaker 2: of the tax revenue that's looming in the future, Sandy.
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  Speaker 1: Then there's also immigration, and there's also trying to get
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  Speaker 1: people to have more babies. The latter hasn't been I
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  Speaker 1: mean governments have tried that the world over. Not a
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  Speaker 1: very successful thing to try and do.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and having more people immigration and things will be
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  Speaker 2: a good start, but I think overall we take a
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  Speaker 2: step back and as both an revenue and Treasury kind
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  Speaker 2: of notes that you know, there's no single lever that's
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  Speaker 2: going to be the silver bullet. Probably makes more sense
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  Speaker 2: to think about a bunch of things that a government
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  Speaker 2: might do to help try and solve that gap of
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  Speaker 2: tax revenue gap.
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  Speaker 1: Sandy lowd PwC Partner. Great to have you on the
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  Speaker 1: show this morning. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
• 2:46
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• 2:49
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