Wellington, May 25 NZPA - Get a tax cut and lose your home. That would be a catastrophic trade-off for having an extra $20 dollars or so in the hand each week, or two blocks of cheese as the National Party puts it.

This election year size does matter as party leaders jostle for position on tax cuts. Finance Minister Michael Cullen has repeatedly dampened down expectations about the size of cuts his party will deliver in Thursday's budget.

National leader John Key says his party is not announcing its tax policy yet -- but if it follows the outline of its 2005 policy people on the average wage could expect tax cuts of about $40 a week.

Next week's budget will deliver a mix of mild tax relief with investment and social spending as a tonic for the economic chills, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said today. Dr Cullen said his ninth budget would deliver a "real response" to the economic situation.

Next week's budget will deliver a mix of mild tax relief with investment and social spending as a tonic for the economic chills, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said today.

National leader John Key today said his party was not committed to outbidding Labour on tax cuts but thought it highly unlikely Labour would offer more. His comments were jumped on by Labour as a flip flop.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen today said that tax cuts would mean a reduction in the growth of spending on social services.