MEDIA RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
28 September, 1999
KEY ISSUES STILL TAX AND SAVINGS
"Key issues for the financial services industry are tax
neutrality and Government policy on retirement savings," said Ross McEwan, Chairman
of the Investment Savings and Insurance Association ("ISI").
Releasing the ISI’s Annual Review for 1999, Mr McEwan said
the industry was keen to see the Superannuation 2000 Taskforce lead to progress in an
agreed long-term policy for New Zealand.
"We believe that certainty about the level of public pension
provision in the future would go a long way towards persuading people to accept
responsibility for their own income in retirement," Mr McEwan said.
The current situation with a multitude of different taxation
regimes applying to savings products is also a disincentive to savings," said Mr
McEwan. The ISI considers that achieving neutrality of tax treatment between different
forms of saving would avoid distortions in investment and would benefit savers and the
country as a whole.
The ISI is the industry body for companies which issue or manage
life insurance, superannuation and managed investments.
Ends
Vance Arkinstall
Chief Executive
ISI
