Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Are IRD really the 'bad guys' when it comes to student debt?

Right, tell me what you think of this.

There seems to be a bit of an effort underway at the moment to portray IRD as bad guys because they're chasing Kiwis overseas who owe money on their student loans.

Now, tell me if you think that we should let either of these two off the hook on the money that they owe.

Damien Grant: IRD needs a systemic process to chase unpaid taxes

In a past life (I have had a few) I found myself in charge of a company that had run past its use-by date. Events were moving against the business model and it was time to smother it with a pillow. Metaphorically speaking.

Like many directors in a similar bind, I dithered. There is irony now that I find myself on the other side of that table; being a liquidator rather than the liquidated.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: The IMF should apologize.....

The IMF should apologize for its NZ Mission Chief stating our IRD supports Capital & Land Taxes (when it doesn't)

In order to achieve maximum embarrassment to the government, our bankrupting One (Sided) News channel splashed on TV screens its headline news story featuring International Monetary Fund NZ Mission Chief, Evan Papageorgiou, calling for a comprehensive tax on capital gains to be introduced in our country, as well as a land tax which should 'increase the progressivity of income tax' - widening the gap between lower & higher tax rates. He said, "We've recommended (capital & land taxes) repeatedly, [and] yes, I know that politicians don't pay attention .. Treasury & IRD also have similar opinions, there is a quite a lot of good enough advice out there to influence the public debate."

Mike Hosking: More dangerous ideology from the Government

So, yet another red flag for you to be cognisant of.

If the co-governance scandal isn't bad enough, if He Puapua isn't bad enough, if the mess the economy is currently in due to absurd spending and the resulting inflation isn't bad enough, get your head around what David Parker has been up to.

He gave a speech yesterday about the inequity of the tax system. This comes off the back of him and his mates at the IRD ferreting around the dealings of the so-called wealthy. That was the special group set up to look at whatever they like under the guise that what they find won't be shared and all information gained will ultimately be destroyed. Whatever.

But having got that exercise underway, he is now introducing a new bit of legislation that will, of course, become law.