This tax-happy Government is piling more costs onto New Zealanders like rising rents and it is only going to get worse with a Capital Gains Tax, Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges says.

“New data out today from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) shows the median monthly rent is up $50 a week under this Government, an annual hike of $2600. Under National (2008-2017) the median rent only increased by $12 a year.

“The Government claims to be about fairness but its track record is anything but fair. A Capital Gains Tax is just its latest scheme for taking more money from the back pockets of Kiwis. This deeply divisive tax is bad for New Zealand families and will further slow our economy down.

“The Tax Working Group concluded that a Capital Gains Tax won’t help with housing affordability or high house prices as the Government had claimed and was likely to result in higher rents.

“A Capital Gains Tax would follow other bad Government policies that have contributed to rent increases including the extension of the bright-line test, ring fencing of losses, more onerous and expensive regulation and the ban on foreign investment.

“Instead of looking for new ways to tax New Zealanders more the Government should focus on the quality of its spending and stop wasting money. We should be encouraging Kiwis to get stuck in and contribute to our economy, not discouraging them from trying to get ahead.

“National will repeal a Capital Gains Tax and we won’t introduce any new taxes in our first term. National believes New Zealanders should keep more of what they earn and don’t need ever more ways to be parted from their hard-earned dollars.”

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