TAXN 201 Assignment
Due 27 September 2024 (week 10) at midday

Write an opinion piece (an Op-Ed) critiquing a specific tax policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. Your Op-Ed should engage in a critical analysis of the tax policy; that is, it should not just describe the policy. Your own opinion should be clearly stated and explained.

The Op-Ed should reflect on equity and/or social concepts, as well as efficiency and/or economic concepts, and should be supported with evidence. Any ideas or data taken from another source should be clearly referenced using an appropriate referencing style (a URL is not appropriate). The Library has referencing guidance.

Expected word count: 800 words. A tolerance of 10% is permitted. This includes all writing including references or other material such as appendices or footnotes.

Please refer to the marking rubric below for what is expected. I have included some examples of Op Eds below to show how an Op-Ed is written.

Marking Rubric

Excellent (9‐10)
Above Average (7‐8)
Satisfactory (5‐6)
Not Satisfactory (1‐4)

1. Technically correct in overall analysis (4 marks)
   Issue comprehensively addressed without error or omission
   Issue well addressed with no errors
   Issue addressed, but not deeply
   Significant omissions and/or inaccuracies in evidence / information

2. Engagement with economic and / or efficiency concepts (4 marks)
   Sophisticated analysis of economic / efficiency concepts
   Thorough analysis of economic / efficiency concepts
   Some analysis of economic / efficiency concepts
   Inadequate analysis of economic / efficiency concepts

3. Engagement with equity and / or social concepts (4 marks)
   Sophisticated analysis of equity / social concepts
   Thorough analysis of equity / social concepts
   Some analysis of equity / social concepts
   Inadequate analysis of equity / social concepts

4. Creativity, originality and / or insight (4 marks)
   Evidence of considerable original research
   New insights drawn
   Good use of relevant information sources
   Good insight shown
   Little original research
   Minimal insight demonstrated
   No original research
   No insights drawn

5. Presentation (2 marks)
   Excellent writing and presentation, well structured, clearly written
   Well written, good structure, clearly presented
   Mostly well written and structured
   Poorly written and presented
   Lacking focus

6. Referencing (2 marks)
   All relevant sources appropriately referenced
   Most relevant sources appropriately referenced
   Multiple references missing
   Poor referencing

Op-Ed Examples

• https://theconversation.com/the-first-100-days-of-tax-policy-bode-well-for-nationals-supporters-others-might-be-worried-225259
• https://theconversation.com/taxing-questions-is-national-glossing-over-the-likely-cost-of-administering-its-new-revenue-measures-212529
• https://theconversation.com/failed-nz-businesses-leave-a-trail-of-destruction-here-are-3-things-inland-revenue-could-do-to-minimise-damage-210370
• https://newsroom.co.nz/2017/09/14/its-time-to-talk-about-capital-gains-tax/
• https://newsroom.co.nz/2017/05/02/the-hypocrisy-of-nzs-approach-to-fraud/
• https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/01-12-2022/what-is-a-windfall-tax-and-should-new-zealand-introduce-one
• https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-07-2018/we-know-electric-cars-make-sense-but-we-need-a-financial-push-to-buy-one

TAXN 201 assignment ideas

You can write your TAXN 201 assignment on a topic of your choosing. However, if you are struggling to think of an idea yourself, here are some options you can consider.

• Currently, New Zealand only provides small incentives to encourage people to save for their retirement. Should New Zealand introduce larger incentives for people who save through traditional retirement savings schemes?
• Australia has a universal health care system called Medicare. It is funded through a levy of 2% of taxable income for most taxpayers. Should New Zealand introduce a similar system?
• New Zealand currently has little by way of wealth taxes. Should New Zealand introduce a wealth tax? If so – what form should it take (e.g. a land tax)?
• Health issues associated with sugar consumption are now well known and a range of countries have now introduced sugar taxes. Should New Zealand introduce a sugar tax?
• The Climate Change Commission in New Zealand has set out a blueprint recommending ways in which New Zealand can become carbon neutral by 2050. One option to reduce emissions is to encourage use of low- or no-emission vehicles. Should New Zealand reintroduce tax benefits for those who have low-emission vehicles and/or penalties for those who have high-emission vehicles?
• Many workers were required to work from home during the Covid-19 lockdown. Under the employment limitation in section DA 2(4) employees in New Zealand are not permitted a deduction for expenses incurred in carrying on their employment duties from home. Should New Zealand allow employees to make deductions against their taxable income?
• Should NZ consider changing the rate of GST, or what is captured within the GST net, to help people with the current cost-of-living crisis?
• You can also look at the transfer system for this assignment – that is expenditures from tax revenue. Examples include the student loan system or expenditure on the welfare system.