The Green Party has unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income.

 The scheme resets income support payments to ensure everyone not in full-time paid work gets at least $325 a week.

Co-leader Marama Davidson says “the Guaranteed Minimum Income will mean when people ask for help, they get it.”

It will replace the dehumanising and unliveable social safety net we currently have, which we know does not allow people to live good lives.”

To fund it, the Green Party is proposing a 1% levy on wealth over $1 million.

Those with wealth over $2 million would pay 2%. 

The party is also proposing two new high income tax brackets for the highest earners. 

Two new tax rates targeting high income earners would kick in at 37 cents in the dollar for people earning over $100,000 a year and 42 cents in the dollar for incomes over $150,000.

The top tax rate is currently 33 cents and applies to all income above $70,000 a year.

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters tweeted last night “The Greens wanting to tax Kiwis an ‘envy tax’ to implement a “guaranteed minimum income” is nuts.”

“As Churchhill correctly once said “for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”

National’s Finance spokesperson, Paul Goldsmith says the wealth tax would be particularly severe.

“A successful small business person, owning a $1 million house and a business worth $1 million would have to pay $40,000 a year for the 2 per cent wealth tax.”

“At a time when we need our successful small business people to invest and create more jobs, the Greens want to tax them more.”

Political commentator David Farrar says “despite almost every economist alive saying the stupidest thing you can do in a recession is to raise taxes, this is what the Greens are promising.”

He says “let’s say you’re worked hard and are now in your late 50s and have a mortgage free house and a Kiwi Saver – say it comes to $1.5 million – then you’ll be paying another $5,000 in their asset tax.”

“The Greens tax policies will punish people for saving and for being old.”

He says “the Greens will punish retired people by taxing them.

“If they have $2.5 million in assets, then they’ll pay $20,000 a year in asset tax.”