A National Party post claiming high earners would lose nearly half their income under the Greens' tax proposals has been labelled "misinformation" by its political rivals, who say the ad misrepresents how income tax works.
The 41-second video was posted to the coalition party's Facebook page – with a watermark detection tool also suggesting it included AI-edited imagery.
National's attack advertisement stated, "if you ever want to earn $160,000, you would need to pay 45% of it to the Greens and Labour," then pointing to a line from the Greens' tax policy document.
But the party's policy applies the 45% rate only to income earned above $160,000, not to a person's full earnings, in line with New Zealand's progressive tax structure.
Despite the criticism, National is standing by the advertisement, saying it is clear the video refers to marginal tax rates.
Under the proposal, unveiled last month, the first $10,000 earned would be tax-free, with workers then paying rates rising in steps from 10% to 33.5% on income up to $159,999.
Only earnings above $160,000 would attract the new top rate of 45%, replacing the current 39% rate on income over $180,000.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick rejected the characterisation of the post in a statement to 1News, saying it was "clearly misinformation".
"Either the National Party is deliberately misleading New Zealanders, or they don’t understand how even the current tax system works.
"Either is concerning," she said.
"A party who constantly tells everyone they're the party of economics is caught mischaracterising the basic operation of progressive taxation."
She added: "We hope the Nats invest just as much effort in correcting the record as they have on spreading misinformation and trying to stoke fear about a fairer tax system."
The Green Party claims its tax policy would mean, "96% of people get a tax cut, and someone on $170,000 would pay $23 more a week in tax than they do now, investing in the things that will reduce the basic cost of living and improve all of our lives."
National's advertisement also warned that the Greens' other proposed taxes would also hurt those earning below $160,000 by driving businesses and jobs overseas.
The party's finance spokesperson, Nicola Willis, was asked about the ad yesterday. She said she had not seen it and was not in a position to comment on its accuracy.
"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."
National was approached for comment yesterday evening on the ad's claims, and the post was still accessible as of this afternoon.
A spokesperson for the National leader's office defended the video, saying it accurately reflected the Greens' tax policy.
"Our video shows the Green Party's own tax policy document, including that everyone earning over $160,000 will be hit with a 45% tax rate. It is clear in the context that it refers to marginal tax rates," the spokesperson said.
"The Greens have tried to mislead people into thinking that 'taxing the rich' only refers to people with yachts and helicopters, but our video has drawn attention to the fact that their tax policy hits every hardworking New Zealander earning over $160,000."
The spokesperson added: "It's not surprising the Greens want it taken down but we think Kiwis deserve to know the truth about their tax policy."
Beyond the income tax changes, the Greens' package proposes a 2.5% wealth tax on net assets above $10 million, with the family home exempt, and a "capital acquisitions tax" charging 33% on inheritances and gifts received worth over $1 million.
Co-leader Marama Davidson said 99.7% of people would not pay the wealth tax.
The plan drew swift fire last month from across the coalition when it launched. National's campaign chairperson Simeon Brown called the proposals "economic lunacy".
The Greens were also forced to correct their revenue projections the day after launch, revising net revenue down by about $200 million a year after a $100 million IRD funding line was mistakenly added to total revenue instead of subtracted as a cost.
Swarbrick described the error as a "typo".
National ad included AI elements – watermarking tools
A positive detection of Google SynthID watermarks in several frames of the National's video also suggests that parts of the imagery in it were edited using artificial intelligence.
The video is not labelled as including AI content when viewing online through a web browser, although the party later noted to 1News that a flag was visible if viewing from the Facebook mobile app.
Ahead of November's election, a spokesperson for the party previously told 1News that it planned to label synthetic material in its social media posts.
"From time to time, National uses AI-generated content in its social media. We strive to ensure this content is marked as such," a party spokesperson told 1News in February.
The party said it did not condone using AI to depict real people in misleading ways.
"We urge people to be mindful that not all content they see is real and to check their facts thoroughly before they engage with it."
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