And because he’s being treated so unfairly, it’s hard to avoid saying something.
The latest instalment on this is a series of articles pointing out that Chris Luxon would’ve paid up to $70 thousand in tax on the sale of his apartment if it wasn’t for his government changing the bright-line test rules.
He bought the apartment in 2020 when the bright-line test was five years and because he sold it within five years, it should’ve been subject to the 5 year bright-line test and he should’ve paid a capital gains tax on it.
But his government cut the bright-line test back to 2 years, effective July this year, so he didn’t have to pay the tax.
The implication being that either by design or luck, he managed to dodge a tax he should've paid.
Honestly, give me a break.
The only reason Luxon is selling the apartment is because we’ve pressured him into moving into Premier House.
He didn’t want to move there, that was obvious, and why would he? The place is famously cold and drafty, and given that this guy’s been earning mega bucks for at least a couple of decades, he probably hasn’t lived in a house as cold as a student flat for a couple of decades.
But we gave him grief for not living there and taking the accommodation allowance instead, so he caved and said he’d move into Premier House.
And now that he’s doing that, we’re not happy either because he’s making money off his apartment.
Come on. What do we want here?
He isn’t costing the taxpayer on the accommodation allowance any more, he didn’t change the bright-line test so he could avoid tax – that was an election promise made last year when he clearly still intended to keep owning his property.
The absence of fairness in this ongoing drama suggest that this is exactly what he says this is, which is politics of envy.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
If the Wellington property is his main residence there would have been no tax under the old rules either.
The only 'we' in all that angst is the mainly socialist media and the usual leftie moaners who'd moan if they discovered he used the more expensive toliet paper because he can afford it and they can't.
The article after article is trite journalism at its click bait worst.
The left will stop at nothing, I say NOTHING as they have very warped morals and ethics. The problem with this is that they keep lowering the bar on human behavior. They are hell bent on taking out Trump and the left won't stop as he is a threat to them.
Surely the pendulum must swing back to a more level of sanity or are the left beyond that simple level of reasoning?
The bright libe test applies to rental properties. As he was using the property himself the test surely doesn't apply.
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