UMR poll on tax avoidance

The NZ Herald reports:

Pressure over the Panama Papers on the Government is rising after a poll showed a majority of New Zealanders were concerned about the country’s new reputation as a tax haven.

An announcement by international investigators said details of hundreds of thousands of entities, including many with local links, would soon be made public.

A poll by UMR Research, conducted for activist group ActionStation, showed 57 per cent of respondents were “concerned” about New Zealand being a tax haven and the misuse of our foreign trust regime for tax evasion purposes. Just 23 per cent said they were “not concerned” about the issue. …

The UMR poll, of 750 people between April 14 and 18 and with a margin of error of 3.6 per cent, also asked respondents how they thought the Government had handled the fallout from the Panama Papers and whether they thought the review of foreign trusts by former PWC chairman John Shewan, was an adequate response.

Nearly half, or 46 per cent of respondents, said the Government was handling the issue poorly, with only 21 per cent saying it was being handled well. And more than half, or 52 per cent of respondents, said the Shewan review was an inadequate response to the issue.