More Labour confusion on tax

Stuff reports:

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has given her deputy a ticking off for confirming Labour will campaign on a capital gains tax in the next election.

In a confused interview with the AM Show, Kelvin Davis appeared to know little of the detail of Labour’s tax stance and seemed to resile from that comment in the next breath. 

It was a shocker interview from the guy who will be Deputy Prime Minister if Labour wins. He was all over the place.

Labour has faced tough criticism over its decision to establish a tax working group after the election, but not reveal to voters beforehand whether they intended to implement a capital gains tax or any other taxes. 

Vote Labour and you may find that a third of your parents home will disappear in tax when your parents die. They may do a wealth tax, a land tax, a capital gains tax. It might be 15% or 33%. And they’re not going to tell you before the election.

It has campaigned in the last two elections to implement a tax on the capital gains earned on properties, but has remained unclear about whether that would include farms and businesses.

You own a small business that does well. Not only might you pay income tax on it but any increase in the value of the overall business could get taxed. If a patent becomes more valuable, then you might pay tax on the increased value of the patent.

If a farmer divides a farm into two, to allow both daughters/sons to farm, then any increase in the capital value of the farm could see a massive tax bill.

These are not minor details to those who have to pay it. These are massive. And Labour won’t say what their policy is, except they will decide after the election and implement it before the next election.

It was the weak spot for Ardern in Thursday night’s first TVNZ leaders’ debate, and Davis was visibly uncomfortable answering questions on it Friday morning. 

Ardern said she was “absolutely clear” on the fact Labour would hold a working group, but refused to answer how far Labour was intending to go with its conclusions and suggested tax changes were more likely to occur in the first term.

Labour is being very transparent over it is not being transparent. They are very clear that they will provide no clarity.

National deputy leader Paula Bennett said it wasn’t good enough. 

“The capital gains tax has been your policy since 2007, so you’ve had at least 10 years to sort it out and tell us what it means for you,” she said on the AM Show. 

Providing voters with the details of a policy allows them to determine how it will affect them. Labour is refusing to provide any significant details so it is a lottery as to how much extra tax you will pay.