Ele Ludemann: Taxing talk

Could Labour be stupid enough to include family homes in a Capital Gains Tax?

Labour’s refusal to rule out taxing the family home is a frightening prospect for ordinary Kiwis, says National MP Chris Bishop.

“As Kiwis continue to deal with the cost-of-living consequences of Labour’s high tax, high spend record, it defies belief that its leader can’t rule out piling more costs on Kiwis with a tax on their family home. . .

A comprehensive CGT would be a better policy in terms of effectiveness and simplicity than one which excludes family homes.

But any CGT would be unpopular and including the family home in one would be political poison.

It would also show the party hasn’t learned from the mistakes it made in government.

“Labour crashed the economy, has opposed every measure to get it growing, and has no economic plan except imposing higher taxes on homes, businesses, and savings. Kiwis deserve to know why and how Labour would do this.”

That Labour is starting its policy development with taxing talk is a clear sign it will be offering more of what hasn’t worked in the past and would be even worse in the future with the Greens and Te Pāti Māori as partners.

Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.