Latest / The SME Stream / John MacDonald: Will they, won't they? Labour's capital gains tax decision
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: I reckon former Labor Party leader David Carliff. I reckon
- 0:04Speaker 1: he might have just done the best cell job on
- 0:06Speaker 1: a capital gains tax that any politician in New Zealand,
- 0:11Speaker 1: or or actually anyone for that manner, the best cell
- 0:15Speaker 1: job anyone has ever done on a capital gains tax. Now,
- 0:20Speaker 1: that might have something to do with the fact that
- 0:22Speaker 1: taxes of any sort get people really fired up, and
- 0:27Speaker 1: people have been a lot of people are anti capital
- 0:31Speaker 1: gains tax. My experience is that even people who say
- 0:35Speaker 1: they're on the left side of things politically, even they
- 0:38Speaker 1: hate the idea of paying more tax than they are ready.
- 0:40Speaker 1: But I tell you what I reckon, they will be
- 0:42Speaker 1: feeling differently after comments by David Cunliff to Dana. The
- 0:47Speaker 1: reason he was talking about this with Mike this morning,
- 0:52Speaker 1: as it was just after six thirty five this morning.
- 0:54Speaker 1: The reason he was doing it is that the Labor
- 0:56Speaker 1: Parties having its annual conference in christ Church this weekend
- 0:59Speaker 1: and one of the big things on the agenda as
- 1:02Speaker 1: a vote on whether the party will go further with
- 1:04Speaker 1: the development of a capital gains tax policy, potentially a
- 1:07Speaker 1: wealth tax policy as well. But David Canliff not so fast.
- 1:10Speaker 1: On that. And so it was just after six point
- 1:13Speaker 1: thirty this morning David Canneliff was talking to Mike and
- 1:17Speaker 1: he painted the picture of a capital gains tax scenario
- 1:21Speaker 1: that I think would be far more palatable to most
- 1:24Speaker 1: people than how it's been discussed or presented before.
- 1:30Speaker 2: Now.
- 1:31Speaker 1: Now, this might have been intentional on his part, who knows,
- 1:34Speaker 1: or it might have just been his response to the
- 1:36Speaker 1: questions that Mike was asking, particularly questions in relation to
- 1:43Speaker 1: the idea of whether a capital gains tax could be
- 1:45Speaker 1: offset in any way. This is the game changer, I
- 1:48Speaker 1: reckon and changing public opinion. And here's what he said
- 1:51Speaker 1: about that, which, as I say, I think is the
- 1:54Speaker 1: best cell job on a capital gains tax anyone has
- 1:57Speaker 1: ever done. Have a listen to this.
- 1:58Speaker 2: I think it's very possible to over time use it
- 2:01Speaker 2: offsets and income tax. So you may you teach us doctors,
- 2:04Speaker 2: your fire and your farmers can take less growth of
- 2:08Speaker 2: or a cut in income tax in exchange for realized
- 2:11Speaker 2: capital gains usually excluding the family home being brought in
- 2:16Speaker 2: at some sort of rightious bodans tax basely can give
- 2:18Speaker 2: offsets elsewhere.
- 2:19Speaker 1: Now that in my opinion, in my opinion, would do
- 2:22Speaker 1: far more favors for most wages and salary owners, and
- 2:25Speaker 1: so the tax changes the current government has introduced. Now
- 2:28Speaker 1: you might have done better out of those changes than
- 2:30Speaker 1: most people have ended up about twenty dollars better off
- 2:33Speaker 1: each week. But if you're an average Joe, it would
- 2:37Speaker 1: be a far better deal if you were able to
- 2:39Speaker 1: pay less tax on your work in come on the
- 2:43Speaker 1: basis that this is offset with a capital gains tax payment.
- 2:46Speaker 1: That's my belief. And of course, whenever you start talking
- 2:50Speaker 1: about tax, reality is more complex than the theory. And
- 2:53Speaker 1: even now I'm trying to resist the temptation, but even
- 2:55Speaker 1: now I'm starting to question how the scenario to able
- 2:58Speaker 1: to come and have talked about would practically work. But
- 3:00Speaker 1: let's not get too bold down that. But theoretically, I
- 3:06Speaker 1: reckon people would be less anti capital gains tax if
- 3:10Speaker 1: they knew that they would have more money in their
- 3:12Speaker 1: pocket from their income, that they would pay less income
- 3:15Speaker 1: tax on their wages and salaries. You see, the argument
- 3:20Speaker 1: for a capital gains tax has always been that it's
- 3:22Speaker 1: unfair that we treat different types of income differently. You know,
- 3:24Speaker 1: you go to work, you get paid, and your tax
- 3:27Speaker 1: on that income. But if you buy a property, for example,
- 3:30Speaker 1: and you sell it, you make income from that, you're
- 3:32Speaker 1: not taxed. So it's a no brainer as far as
- 3:36Speaker 1: I'm concerned that we do something to get rid of
- 3:38Speaker 1: that inequity. And David Karl obviously thinks the same, but
- 3:42Speaker 1: this he also thinks most voters would feel the same too.
- 3:46Speaker 2: Here he is again, so it's unlikely it would be
- 3:49Speaker 2: a net vote. Most middle grave national voters I know
- 3:53Speaker 2: would also support a CGC, not so a wealth tax.
- 3:56Speaker 2: I mean a wealth tax has got a retrospective element
- 4:00Speaker 2: sometimes because it goes to accumulated wealth, and high wealth
- 4:03Speaker 2: individuals might vote with their feet. So I think that's
- 4:06Speaker 2: a much riskier proposition. I think labor should be moderate
- 4:09Speaker 2: here and just do a sensible, relatively low rate, broad
- 4:13Speaker 2: based SGT.
- 4:14Speaker 1: Now you might say, on David Cunt if he would
- 4:16Speaker 1: say that because he's in favor of capital gains tax,
- 4:20Speaker 1: and you might say that I'm agreeing with him, because yeah,
- 4:22Speaker 1: I'm in favor of a capital gains tax as well.