The National Party has published a social media attack ad criticising the Green Party's tax policy, prompting accusations from the Greens that the ad misrepresents how the policy would work.
The ad claimed people earning $160,000 would pay 45% of their total income to the Greens and Labour. However, the video did not account for New Zealand's progressive tax system, where the 45% rate would only apply to income above $160,000.
Under the Greens' election tax plan, a $10,000 tax-free threshold would be introduced and income above $160,000 would be taxed at 45%. The current top tax rate of 39% applies to income of $180,001 and over.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick challenged National to debate the policy properly, saying "the National Party is trying to hide behind AI slop and take New Zealanders for idiots".
National's finance spokesperson Nicola Willis told reporters she had not viewed the video but was familiar with how marginal tax rates function. "I will go and look at that, and if there's someone on the social media team that needs to be educated, I'll be happy to give them a bit of a lesson in marginal tax rates," she said.
The video remained on National's social media pages 24 hours after Willis's comment.