Taxpayers look to Winston Peters to balance James Shaw’s extreme views

FEBRUARY 15 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Winston Peters to take a critical view of the Tax Working Group’s proposals, as the Green Party doubles down on its capital-gains-tax-at-any-cost stance.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The more that James Shaw bangs the capital gains tax drum, the more interesting Winston Peters’ silence on the issue becomes. Hopefully, this is a sign that he’s approaching the policy with more caution than the Greens, waiting to see the detail of the tax before making sweeping commitments.”

“This is Winston Peters’ chance to be better than the Greens. When the proposal is made public next Thursday, all eyes will be on New Zealand First, which has the power to save New Zealanders from a capital gains tax if it fails the test of fairness.”

The recent Taxpayers’ Union report Five Rules for a Fair Capital Gains Tax argues that a capital gains tax should only be supported if it is levied at a discount rate, includes roll-over relief on death, is indexed for inflation, is revenue neutral, and eschews the ‘valuation day’ approach.

“Only if those criteria are satisfied could a capital gains tax be considered fair. The ‘CGT-at-all-costs’ mentality from Mr Shaw is, frankly, extreme,” concludes Mr Houlbrooke.

ENDS

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