And it’s not the only existing provision the Inland Revenue could look at enforcing in the face of runaway house prices and wealth inequality, writes Terry Baucher. Thirty-one years ago this month, then-Labour finance minister David Caygill proposed a comprehensive capital gains tax including the family home. The proposal was made following the release of … Read more
The government’s extraordinary measures to halt Covid-19 and support the economy have had extraordinary public support. Tony Burton argues that the hard choices about who pays for it will be far less popular. I have lived with a skeleton since the lockdown. It’s white and shiny and takes up half the space in my living … Read more
Many people were disappointed about the government’s abandonment of the capital gains tax plan. But is there an alternative that could still open up the property market to those currently priced out? I’m just going to put my cards on the table – I am a supporter of a capital gains tax (CGT). I’m an … Read more
It already looked like the housing market could take off again, and then the Reserve Bank went and made that a whole lot more likely. David Hargreaves analyses the forecasts, in this piece originally published on Interest.co.nz. It may seem the height of absurdity to talk about the possibility of the house market taking off … Read more
Good morning, and welcome back to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: More revealed on funding cuts disability advocates say are happening by stealth, dire warnings in environment report, and could National go for Māori seat? More light has emerged on a rumoured squeeze on funding for the disability sector.It comes from documents revealed to the NZ Herald, … Read more
True, Jacinda Ardern has faced a few criticisms for ruling out a new capital gains tax now and for as long as she leads. But a lot of people are very, very happy. Two million dollars and a tax working group later, Jacinda Ardern has dumped the Capital Gains Tax forever, saying she still believed … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Heavy fallout from axing of capital gains tax, cost blowout for City Rail Link, and wrongly evicted Housing NZ tenants to get debt wiped. PM Jacinda Ardern has ruled out a capital gains tax. Not only now, mind you, she’s ruled out Labour ever campaigning on it … Read more
A capital gains tax is urgently needed not so much for the revenue it will raise, but because the tax system is currently fundamentally unfair, writes policy director and economist for the Council of Trade Unions Bill Rosenberg. Our tax system is unfair. It’s not equipped for many of the needs which we, as New … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Military crisis erupts between India and Pakistan, top marine biologist disowns Te Papa connection, and DHBs still desperate for nurses. A hugely important story is unfolding right now in a critical part of the world. India and Pakistan, two nuclear armed powers and fierce geopolitical rivals, have … Read more
Literally decades worth of untaxed capital gains have created a political nightmare for the government. Is there any way they can navigate a capital gains tax through it, asks Danyl Mclauchlan? Part of the problem is that this government is trying to unshit the bed. We’ve had a deeply unfair tax system with its grossly … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tax Working Group puts environment taxes on the agenda, social worker registration bill questioned, and DHBs bleeding red ink. Sound the clickbait klaxon, because today’s Bulletin is all about tax policy. We’ll get to everyone’s favourite political football – the Capital Gains Tax – a bit further … Read more