“Labour’s plan to introduce a capital gains tax by stealth vindicates ACT’s opposition to the brightline test”, says David Seymour.

“Grant Robertson has asked Treasury to investigate a range of tax options, including extending the brightline test beyond five years.

“ACT predicted this. When National introduced the brightline test, I said:

“…this tax is the acorn of a capital gains tax. It is a measure that will grow from 2 years to 5 to 10 to 15 years. You watch: it will eventually apply to a wider range of homes. It is the acorn that the National Party has planted that will grow into a full-blown capital gains tax.”

“New taxes will do nothing to improve housing affordability – we must replace the RMA so more land can be freed up for development.

“The solution to the housing crisis is to build more homes – Labour’s new taxes will just change who’s in the queue to buy the existing ones.

“Labour couldn’t get a capital gains tax past New Zealanders, so it’s trying to bring one in through the back door. The problem is, like the five year brightline test, another extension won’t work.

“Trying to solve a housing shortage by extending the brightline test is like trying to end a famine by taxing food.

“For the past three years, Labour has taken the easy, populist route – banning foreign buyers and extending the brightline test to five years, neither of which has worked. KiwiBuild was a complete failure.

“Labour hasn’t yet had the courage to tackle the real problem. As ACT has said for many years, we must allow the private sector to build more houses by reforming or replacing the RMA.”

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