After 'cattle fart' tax, NZ authorities suggest Halloween 'lollipop tax'. Face instant backlash

Under-fire New Zealandtax department has been forced to apologise after suggesting a ludicrous idea toteach children 'tax responsibility'. Reportedly, theInland Revenue Department (IRD) on Sunday took to its official Twitter account to state that parents should stash 33 per cent of their kids' candiesas 'lolly tax' this Halloween.

“Gearing up for Halloween? Fun Fact: Parenting trends like a lollies tax teach kids responsibility by taking some of their lollies and taxing their trick-or-treat haul," read the tweet.

It further suggested that parents apply NZ's top income rates i.e 33 per cent on the children's trick-or-treat earnings.

"The tax can be as much as one-third of the lollies “earned” on Halloween. Will you be celebrating?"

As soon as the tweet was posted, it went viral and drew sharp criticism from most quarters. Opposition MPs also took a stand and criticised Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's stance towards taxation.

WATCH |Gravitas: New Zealand to tax farmers for burpy cattle

Calling IRD “the grinch of Halloween,”former leader of the National party Judith Collins said the “spookiest thing this Halloween was a glimpse into the mind of an IRD tax collector."

After receiving criticism, IRD deleted the tweet and came up with an apology and said they were sorry if it offended anyone.

“We received some adverse comments online and on reflection decided to delete it. We’re sorry if the tweet offended,” read the tweet.

This is not the first time that New Zealand has made the headlines in recent times for its rather bizarre policies.As reported by WION, last month, it became the first country to tax cattle burps and urine emissions to control agricultural emissions.

Read more:New Zealand set to be first nation to tax farmers for cattle burps, urine emissions

PM Jacinta Ardern announced the scheme, according towhich,farmers will have to pay for their gas emissions including the methane released by cows and nitrous oxide emitted through livestock urine.

No sooner than Ardern made the announcement, thousands of farmers took out protests, carrying placards that read, "We're not going to take it."

"The government's ideological commitment to punitive and counterproductive emissions taxes on food production is an existential threat to rural communities," saidBryan Mackenzie,the protest organiser.

Read more:'We're not going to take it': Thousands of farmers in New Zealand protest cattle flatulence tax

(With inputs from agencies)

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