National breaking tax promises

Press release: ACT New Zealand
April 26, 2016. 12:20pm

The introduction of a land tax would be a broken promise, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“National promised ‘no new taxes’ during the last election campaign. Then they introduced a travel levy and a capital gains tax. For the third time now, this promise could be broken, as the Prime Minister ponders a land tax. It’s another example of National campaigning from the Right and governing from the Left.

“The tax would likely include expat Kiwis and could easily be extended by a future government to Kiwis within New Zealand. Homeowners are getting bled dry with rate bills as it is. Whatever happened to ‘your house, your castle’?

“Property rights are meant to be protected by centre-right governments, but it looks like National is too busy trying to put Labour out of a job.

“National’s increasingly incoherent tax policies are a symptom of its failure to comprehensively reform the RMA. Tinkering with special housing areas isn’t working and so now they’re getting desperate.

“ACT is now the only party with a plan to address the housing shortage. Instead of fiddling with tax rules, we need to change the RMA, securing economic needs, removing the 156 references to ‘inappropriate subdivision’, and putting an end to the rural-urban boundaries artificially choking land supply.”

ENDS

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