Cam Slater: Go On, Campaign on a Capital Gains Tax

Chris Hipkins has suddenly decided that a capital gains tax is a good idea after all. He kept that quiet before the election, actually saying no to it. We can now be under no illusion that had Labour won the election they would have rammed through a capital gains tax faster than a New York minute.

Chris Hipkins says he’s not worried a capital gains tax implemented by a future Labour-led government might drive the wealthy offshore, because most other countries already have one.

The Opposition leader, who ruled out campaigning on capital gains and wealth taxes ahead of the 2023 election, in a speech at the weekend said both were back on the table, as was a land tax. The idea is to ease the tax burden on salary and wage earners, who are “shouldering a disproportionate share” compared to those whose money comes from their wealth.

“Under this government, those with multiple investment properties are getting huge tax breaks while those on salary and wages pay tax on every dollar they earn,” Hipkins told supporters on Sunday.

RNZ

Awesome. I can’t wait to see him campaign on that. It will likely end up the same way when another tried that, a leader who was sorry for being a man. Hipkins might not be sorry for being a man, but he doesn’t know what a woman is.

Labour considered a capital gains tax, but ruled out campaigning on it in both 2020 and 2023. Hipkins ruled out a wealth tax, as proposed by the Greens, last year – despite it having interest from then-Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Revenue Minister David Parker, the latter of whom quit after Hipkins’ captain’s call.

“Well, you know, that was then and this is now,” Hipkins told Morning Report on Monday.

“I think we have to realise, you know, we have to accept at some point in the country that the tax system that we’ve got is unsustainable. You know, with fewer people paying PAYE – pay as you earn tax – as a proportion of the workforce, we’re going to have to do something to recognise the fact that, you know, all of the public services that we currently fund out of our tax revenue – so, health, education, you know, the infrastructure that we build, welfare system, superannuation – we’re going to need to be able to continue to fund those things into the future, and our current tax system is going to struggle to do that.”

An investigation by Inland Revenue last year found the wealthiest were paying less than half the amount of tax, across all forms of income, than most other New Zealanders – because of untaxed capital gains from businesses, property and other investments.

“We will be very clear with the country what we put forward as our tax policy well before the election, so that people know what they’re voting for,” Hipkins said.

“But I do think increasing numbers of New Zealanders want to have this discussion. I think they see that the tax system is unsustainable as it is.”

RNZ

Please, please, please have the debate, loud and long. I can’t hardly wait. This is going to be awesome watching Hipkins tell every home owner he wants to tax their unrealised capital gains on their houses, baches and rental properties.

This is just navel-gazing on an issue that matters little to the voters they need to win back.

Labour needs to work out how to make life better for these people, not navel gaze on esoteric rubbish like a capital gains tax.

I wait with bated breath for them to start campaigning on this, and for the out-of-touch luvvies in the legacy media to jump on board with it all.

Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. Cam blogs regularly on the BFD - where this article was sourced.