Declare your spending....or else!

[MotherBear]

Reveal your spending or face $500 fine
5:00AM Tuesday March 06, 2007
By Jarrod Booker

New Zealanders are being asked to divulge personal information on their household spending to Statistics New Zealand under threat of a $500 fine if they refuse.

The demand placed on 4500 New Zealand households has concerned civil liberties advocates, who say it should be people's choice to expose their private habits in the annual household economic survey.

The people in the randomly selected households are asked to take part in a face-to-face interview, typically about one-and-a-half hours, and then complete a diary detailing the spending habits of all adults in the household over two weeks.

As with the Census, people are legally required to take part. Anyone who refuses can be fined up to $500.

Statistics New Zealand collection manager Ray Freeman said that although fines had been imposed for non-compliance in other surveys such as the Census, it was a "last resort". It had not been used yet against those refusing to take part in the household economic survey, but "the potential is there".

More here .

[Glenda]

I would happily do it ... if they pay me the $500 they are fining anyone else for my time and effort.

Sounds a little like Big Brother poking his nose in. :icon_neutral:

[MotherBear]

Spending binge unrelenting
5:00AM Saturday April 14, 2007
By Brian Fallow

Strong retail sales data for February caused the dollar to jump yesterday and has money markets now viewing another interest rate rise as a question of when, not if.

When seasonally adjusted, sales were 1.9 per cent higher than in January and 6.3 per cent ahead of February last year, Statistics New Zealand said.

If the volatile automotive sector is excluded, the results were even stronger, up 2.3 per cent for the month and 8.2 per cent for the year.

When he raised the official cash rate to 7.5 per cent last month governor Alan Bollard warned further tightening might be required and a "return to a moderating trend in housing and domestic demand" was essential.

The money market reacted to yesterday's data by pushing up the exchange rate by a third of a cent to US73.4c and raising short-term wholesale interest rates.

More here .