April 1, 2009 was the day that a new independent earner tax credit was introduced by the New Zealand government. The tax credit was supposedly put in place not only to let people keep more of their hard earned money but also to encourage spending to give the economy a bit of a boost.
Anyway, yesterday morning The Edge radio station put out radio ads, website banners and a press release telling their listeners that a Stimulus package had been announced where the government had rewarded those who earn over $50,000 per year with a $5,000 cash bonus into their bank accounts overnight. They even went as far as to set up an 0800 number for people to call and get more information on the bonus.
The first I heard of the bonus was when my wife got back from her early morning workout session. I was on my way to work and already running late and she was going on about whether or not $5,000 had been deposited into my account. I was a bit confused and wondering what she was going on about. I knew that some sort of tax cuts were coming into effect in April but didn’t think it meant a $5,000 lump sum so I kind of brushed the idea aside.
Things started to change as I was driving to work and listening to all the ads, news broadcasts and people calling up talking about the bonus they had received. It all seemed a bit too good to be true but I started wandering and asking myself “what if?” and “could it be?” and was starting to get excited but trying to stay calm. I was going too wait until I got to work to hear what, if anything my colleagues had to say about but no-one seemed to be talking about it. A few minutes after getting to work my wife called me to say that no deposits had been made into our accounts. It was then whilst I was speaking to her that it clicked that it was April the 1st. All I could do was laugh!!
What was your April Fools?
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