Responding to the Heritage Foundation’s ranking of New Zealand as third in the world for economic freedom, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says:

“New Zealand’s consistently high performance on indexes of economic freedom is, in large part, thanks to our simple and relatively low-rate tax system.”

“When Cabinet tomorrow casts its eye over the Tax Working Group’s final recommendations, Ministers should be absolutely allergic to any proposal that puts this freedom at risk – such as a 33 percent capital gains tax, with a complex array of exemptions and fine print.”

The Taxpayers’ Union’s latest report, Five Rules for a Fair Capital Gains Tax, outlines criteria by which the Government should judge any capital gains tax proposal. The report is available at www.taxpayers.org.nz/five_rules.

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