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NZCPR CAMPAIGNS
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Dr Michael Gousmett
It is well known that today Ngai Tahu is a billion-dollar plus entity, and growing. Ngai Tahu claim that they are under “attack ... led by “fiscal conservatives who attribute our remarkable success to not paying tax.” In this Ngai Tahu are wrong on two points.
Ngai Tahu have taken advantage of the income tax legislation and charity law to grow the settlement to the point which must raise questions about the privilege of the exemption from income tax being granted to limited liability companies.
Many of you will no doubt remember the Sanitarium advertisement from the 1960s, “Kiwi kids are Weet-bix kids.” During the long summer evenings you may have enjoyed a glass or two of Cabernet Sauvignon from New Zealand’s oldest winery, Mission Estate. Down in the South Island, during the day tourists will have had the thrill of a jet-boat ride on the Shotover River, courtesy of Shotover Jet. What you probably did not realise is that these apparently commercial organisations, operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Marist Holdings (Greenmeadows) Limited, and the Ngai Tahu Charitable Group, have charitable therefore income tax exempt status.
