Tax Justice Aotearoa starts campaign in support of CGT

Written By: - Date published: 7:46 am, April 8th, 2019 - 168 comments
Categories: capital gains, class war, tax - Tags:

Tax Justice Aotearoa has started a public campaign in support of a capital gains tax.  It is a coalition of various trade unions, churches and community groups.  

Its reason for being is described in this passage:

Tax Justice Aotearoa NZ seeks a fairer society through tax reform. We represent the growing number of people who wish to see greater transparency, equality and fairness in national and global tax systems. Founded in August 2018 and linked with the global Tax Justice Network, we provide analysis, ideas and information to create an informed dialogue about how tax builds societies where all people flourish.

There is a petition that you can sign.

 

 

168 comments on “Tax Justice Aotearoa starts campaign in support of CGT ”

  1. mikesh 1

    A non sequitur has no place in advertising.

  2. vto 2

    I think it is pretty simple…

    if there is to be no capital gains tax
    then there must be no income gains tax

    f&$k them

    one of us earns a measly $22/hour and pays tax on it
    while a family member walks away with $22 million and pays no tax on it

    how the f&%k does that work?

    • WeTheBleeple 2.1

      Same. Paying tax all my life. Family member owned and traded dozens of houses got to be a multimillionaire and didn’t pay tax. Same with businesses he’d pad out and flick for profit.

      Where’s the fairness in that? I worked just as hard and even harder.

      As for the grotesque earnings of corporations, we need legislation – NOT IRD investigating ways to retrieve tax earnings… Make them pay up or get out. All of them.

      Everyone pays tax, or nobody pays tax. Anything else is bullshit.

      • infused 2.1.1

        It’s people like you who are so full of shit. And VTO above.

        If you have family members selling ‘dozens’ of houses, they will be paying tax. If they are not, then it’s illegal.

        Same with businesses huh? Give me some evidence of SMBs walking away with shit tons of non-taxed earnings.

        As for you working harder? Give me a fucking break.

        • WeTheBleeple 2.1.1.1

          It was a simple scheme to climb into thirty odd years ago when he started. A house is used to leverage a loan for another house that leverages a loan for… you guessed it, another house… And these are mostly rentals you hold em and fold em as the market climbs which has pretty much been the trajectory because of the ease of loans against ‘surety’.

          It was a free for all till the flipping laws came in recently. It’s still a free for all in some regards but that’s what’s under question.

          Business flipping is similar, buy it, pimp it out (strip it down make it look hot), sell out.

          How much?

          https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/89310/david-chaston-probes-how-much-realised-capital-gain-being-made-landlords-and-owner

          “This is what it shows: In the year to June 2017, if the average holding time for the lower quartile sales was 10 years (some will be longer, some shorter), then the 10 year capital gain on those sales was about $1.8 billion.

          But the numbers are very much larger for owner-occupiers. For the same timeframe (the year to June 2017) owner-occupiers who sold realised $7.9 billion in gains, avoiding more than $2.6 billion in taxes.”

  3. cleangreen 3

    VTO that is sensible logic you speak.

    So there should be a low tax for anyone on a low wage income economy and a high tax on those with ‘excessive incomes’.

    That is fair.

    • mikesh 3.1

      There is nothing logical about comparing “apples” with “pears”. Capital gain is not income.

      • vto 3.1.1

        yes it is

        money is money, no matter how you come into it

        • cleangreen 3.1.1.1

          Mikessh;

          No capital gains are ‘income silly, it is the same as ‘speculative hedging”

          Are you smoking to much pot and cant think clearly?

      • McFlock 3.1.2

        ho ho ho ho ho
        Your mind powers will not work on me, boy!

        Capital gains are indeed the income we are looking for… to tax 😛

      • Incognito 3.1.3

        What is Capital Gain

        Capital gain is a rise in the value of a capital asset (investment or real estate) that gives it a higher worth than the purchase price. The gain is not realized until the asset is sold. A capital gain may be short-term (one year or less) or long-term (more than one year) and must be claimed on income taxes.

        https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalgain.asp

        What is Income

        Income is money that an individual or business receives in exchange for providing a good or service or through investing capital.

        https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/income.asp

        Ergo, Capital Gain = Income

        QED

        • SHG 3.1.3.1

          your logic is awful.

          capital gain is increase in value
          increase in value is not money
          all income is money
          ergo capital gain is not income

          • Incognito 3.1.3.1.1

            This is the key part, from the quote:

            The gain is not realized until the asset is sold.

            At that moment, “capital gain” becomes “money” becomes “income” becomes “taxable”.

            QED

  4. solkta 4

    Capital gain is not income.

    Of course it is income. People wouldn’t attempt to make a capital gain otherwise.

    • Andre 4.1

      Capital gain is income at the moment it’s actually realised.

      Up until the moment the asset is sold and and the capital gain realised, the capital gain is a hypothetical construct. Which is why Cullen’s Foreign Investment Fund tax and Moggie’s proposed Comprehensive Capital Tax are deeply flawed and irritating as fuck to deal with.

      • mikesh 4.1.1

        A capital gain and the sale of a property are separate events. Saying that one “realises a capital gain” is simply playing with words.

        • Andre 4.1.1.1

          Ok, personal example. In 1987 I paid approximately 1.2 times New Zealand’s then median income for a part-interest in a property. Last year the property was sold and my share came out to approximately 11 times New Zealand’s median income.

          Before buying the property, I had 1.2x the median income as easy cash and no property. Now after selling the property I have 11x the median income as easy cash and no property. How on earth can that extra 9.8x the median income I now have not be considered income?

          Particularly when I could have just let that money sit in interest earning accounts and re-invest the interest (on which I would have paid tax), and it would now be worth maybe 4x the median income.

          • patricia bremner 4.1.1.1.1

            Excellent example Andre.

          • mikesh 4.1.1.1.2

            Well, bully for you. I assume you also had some income during that period, otherwise how did you survive.

            • Andre 4.1.1.1.2.1

              You have yet to explain why that capital gain I realised is not income.

              And thanks for your concern, yes that property was just part of my financial affairs. The point of detailing it here isn’t to brag about how well I’m doing, it’s to illustrate how capital gains becomes income and should be taxed as such.

              FWIW, as a US citizen, I’m still liable for US tax even though I’m resident in NZ. So that means I’m about to pay a six-figure tax bill to the US solely on the basis of that capital gain, even it was the NZ government that made that gain possible and the US had nothing whatsoever to do with it. However, if NZ had a CGT, then the NZ government would have taken a fair cut, and because of tax-reciprocity arrangements the US probably wouldn’t get much if any of it.

              • mikesh

                It doesn’t actually “explain” anything. It just tells us what happened. Saying that you made some income is just your interpretation of those events. I would have said that you sold an asset for what it was worth (so no profit), but that the value of that asset was influenced by capital gain, which couldn’t be taxed because it was bound up in the asset.

                Your interpretation shows the danger of simplistic thinking.

                • Andre

                  My time has value. When I sell 40 hours of my time to someone that wants my technical expertise, I have just sold an asset for what it is worth (so no profit). After all, there’s plenty of other things I could do with that time that I value just as much as earning money.

                  Why should selling one kind of asset (my time) be taxed, while selling a different kind of asset not be taxed?

                  • mikesh

                    When you sold your time you produced something. Capital gain produces nothing. That’s the difference. Income needs to be supported by production. It would be rather silly to say that the community’s income has increased without a corresponding increase in production. Government wants a share in the community’s production, which is why they tax income and not capital gain.

                    • Andre

                      Yet a significant part of that capital gain was due to improvements made to the property. Made using time from some of the part owners that was unpaid at the time. So the capital gain is partly deferred payment for time put into improving the property. Why should that be untaxed?

                      Whether or not income is due to producing something is a bizarre basis for deciding whether it should be taxed. Indeed, I would guess most people would say that producing something is more valuable to society than doing nothing useful. So we should encourage producing things by taxing income from producing things at a lower rate and taxing income derived from doing nothing productive at a higher rate.

                      Furthermore, a lot of jobs today are frankly bullshit jobs that produce nothing, and nobody would be worse off if those jobs disappeared (except those who get their income from doing those jobs). Should income earned at those bullshit jobs be tax-free because they produce nothing?

                    • KJT

                      Even more reason to tax capital gains, which is unearned and causes an economically dysfunctional allocation of investment/effort, rather than taxing earnings from productive work, which we want to encourage.

                    • mikesh

                      If the gain is due to work done then to that extent it is not a capital gain. Unpaid labour should be taxed if it is paid indirectly by an increase in the value of an asset. A gain of this type is really a markup rather than a capital gain. It is no different from the markup added to a can of baked beans by a supermarket owner before offering it for sale

                    • mikesh

                      Bullshit jobs don’t invalidate the theory. They are indication that the operation of the economy itself is not perfect.

                    • KJT

                      Mikesh.

                      It doesn’t matter what the definition is in the study of economics, 101.

                      We are talking about the real world, here.

                      The economics that reflect reality, understand that capital gains, and the effect of finance, are not simple transfers. Divorced from productivity.

              • Paul Campbell

                Yes this happens to me too – I lived in the US for 20 years and still have to file taxes there – there’s a tax agreement between the two countries where you don’t pay tax twice, but you do pay the difference between the tax rates in one in the other, with 0% CGT in NZ I pay 20% in the US, I’d much rather pay that money in NZ.

                Remember that in almost every other western country a CGT is a LOWER tax – for example in the US capital gains are nominally taxed at your marginal rate unless you meet a minimum investment time – long term capital gains are taxed at a lower rate called the “CGT” rate, short term ones (house flipping for example, or day trading) is not.

                Tax fairness is an important reason for having a CGT, but there are other reasons, in NZ we invest too little money in new businesses because of the tax advantages of real-estate investment – long term our economy will be better off if we invest in our own businesses rather than having them bought by Aussie pension funds

        • ankerawshark 4.1.1.2

          Call it what you will Mikesh, but its time to tax it……………….

    • mikesh 4.2

      It is true that “money is money” – how could it be otherwise. However not all money is income.

      • solkta 4.2.1

        It is only considered not to be income by fuckwits who don’t want to pay tax on it.

        • cleangreen 4.2.1.1

          100% solkta and Alana.

          Mikesh is really screwed up in the head.

          Any ‘speculation’ produces profit is a taxable income period.

          This is a global position used for taxation.

          Only a handful don’t think this way and Mikesh is one of them.

        • new view 4.2.1.2

          Solkta If it turns out that the cost of it cancels out any benefits would you still want it. If you do then it’s envy tax and only a fuck wit would keep pursuing that.

        • mikesh 4.2.1.3

          If you have a brain then I would suggest you use it, instead of calling those of us who do use their brains fuckwits.

          • KJT 4.2.1.3.1

            Those who produce semantic sophistry, to avoid tax on gains, at the expense of those who earn their money with hard work, may not be idiots, but the are being disingenuous.

            • mikesh 4.2.1.3.1.1

              It is those who call capital gain “income” who are employing “semantic sophistry”. I have given concrete reasons in various parts of this thread why capital gain is not income.

              • Shadrach

                And I’m impressed with your patience, but you are arguing against mindless, entrenched ideology. Meanwhile, NZ’ers have given both fingers to this stupid idea. https://www.msn.com/en-nz/money/personalfinance/new-zealand-doesnt-want-a-capital-gains-tax-poll/ar-BBVIz0J?ocid=spartanntp.

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  But not “stupid” for every country.

                  Such a wealthy country, Norway – why do they have a 27% CGT (excluding sale of the principle home)?

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gains_tax

                  • Shadrach

                    It takes a particular form of stupidity to run that argument.

                    Norway have a flat personal income tax rate of 23%, in addition to a tax threshold surtax. You have to be earning the equivalent of around NZ$100,000 (K598,050) before your tax rate goes above 26%. Their corporate tax rate is 23%, considerably lower than ours. Their VAT ‘general rate’ is 25%.

                    So sure…let’s run a considerably lower personal tax rates for people earning $100k, lower business tax rates and a much higher GST rate. Then you can have your CGT.

                    • KJT

                      And a State share of the economy over 60%, 41% of GDP is from tax revenues, which they paid for by keeping income earning assets in State hands. And a CGT,

                      If idiots like you hadn’t sold or stolen every tax payer built income earning asset the New Zealand Government owned, we could, like Norway, kept our social supports and infrastructure, without extra tax.

                      As usual Shadrach, you are looking from the wrong angle.

                    • Shadrach

                      https://thestandard.org.nz/tax-justice-aotearoa-starts-campaign-in-support-of-cgt/#comment-1605526

                      Oh the burn! KJT advocating an economic system that survives partly on fossil fuel revenues. 12% of GDP and over one third of exports!

                    • UncookedSelachimorpha

                      Tax in Norway is 41%of gdp, in Nz only 32%.

                      Your characterisation of Norway as having low tax on income and companies is incorrect, they have taxes in addition to the basic rates. Plus a wealth tax.

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Norway

                    • Shadrach

                      “Your characterisation of Norway as having low tax on income and companies is incorrect,”
                      I didn’t characterise it as any such thing. I was highlighting the cherry picking contortions required to argue for a CGT based on Norway’s economic success. Like all successful economies, Norway doesn’t have a single bullet. Mind you, their substantial oil revenues help. No doubt those using Norway to support their pro CGT arguments will have to reassess their opposition to fossil fuels.

                  • SHG

                    Yes we should be like Norway, with their massive state exploitation of fossil fuel resources… and whale killing

                    yep. surefire vote-winners there

                    • UncookedSelachimorpha

                      Other Scandanavian (and certain other continental European) countries lack both those things, have high tax and high government spending, and have much better social outcomes than NZ, UK etc.

                      It is more a cultural outlook, than simply luck of oil wealth.

                      Remember – “sharing is caring”

                • KJT

                  Chicago school economics is not mindless entrenched idiocy?

                  You have already blown your credibility, Shadrach.

                  • Shadrach

                    The arguments presented here for a CGT are mindless ideology. That’s why outside your own echo chamber so few people buy your bs.

                    • KJT

                      Just the majority of successful economies in the world, that have a CGT.

                      “Capital gains are not income”. Tui add.

                      Reality has thoroughly debunked the Chicago school and Neo-Liberal economics.

                      Try to keep up.

                    • Shadrach

                      “Just the majority of successful economies in the world, that have a CGT.”

                      So what? See my comments above about Norway. They have a CGT. And a 25% VAT. Are you advocating for that too? And a 23% business tax rate? I’ll bet you’re not. And I’ll bet you’re totally ignorant about the tax systems of all those other economies.

                    • KJT

                      As are you about real life economics.

                      But, just like your blinkered view of Israel, i don’t expect any relation to reality in any of your statements.

                    • Shadrach

                      Are you advocating for a 25% GST? A 23% business tax rate? Anytime you’re cornered you run away from answering KJT.

                    • KJT

                      Cornered in your fevered imagination.

                      With rules you make up yourself.

                      You must have been fun to play chess with. Making up your own imaginary rules as you go along.

                    • Shadrach

                      Are you advocating for a 25% GST? A 23% business tax rate? Or having 12% of GDP and over one third of exports in oil?

                      You’ve been caught out cherry picking KJT. It’s as simple as that.

      • patricia bremner 4.2.2

        True mikesh. “not all money is income”
        Then it is wealth, and I believe we should also tax wealth as they do in most countries.

        • mikesh 4.2.2.1

          Realised capital gain is only a small part of wealth. There may be something to be said for taxing all wealth, but taxing the part represented by capital seems unfair.

        • ankerawshark 4.2.2.2

          Patricia 100 ++++

      • mikesh 4.2.3

        I call it what it is. And it’s not income so taxing it seems inappropriate.

        • Wensleydale 4.2.3.1

          If it’s not income, Michael, what is it? Cheese? A goat? A Fijian holiday for two at a five-star resort?

          • mikesh 4.2.3.1.1

            It’s capital. What else. I suggest you learn the difference between capital and income.

            • Wensleydale 4.2.3.1.1.1

              I would, but I’m far too busy riding my goat around Fiji and eating cheese.

            • KJT 4.2.3.1.1.2

              Only an economics definition. The effect. Someone has more money, is the same.

              • SHG

                That’s like saying “murder is only a legal definition”. It’s kinda important.

                • KJT

                  It is more like the distinction between murder and manslaughter.

                  Both result in a corpse.

                  BTW. Economists do not agree on the definitions of income, and CGT.

                  For a long time the role of banking was down played in most economics, considered as a facilitator of transfers, which played no real role in productivity. Keynes, exploded that one.

    • mikeshI 4.3

      MMost people invest in assets for the rental income they provide. Capital gain is serendipitous.

      • mikesh 4.3.1

        I apologise for using the pseudonym “mikeshl”. That was a typo.

      • KJT 4.3.2

        Bull. Certainly not those investing in Auckland houses.

        And from the screams from federated fuckwits, many farmers are not investing in a farming business. They are be farming capital gains. They even publicly, if inadvertently, admitted it

        • mikesh 4.3.2.1

          They can’t live on capital gains. They must be earning income as well, otherwise how are they able to survive.

          • KJT 4.3.2.1.1

            There is a family next door to me, living on the capital gains from their Auckland house.

            So. Next piece of theoretical bull.

      • Andre 4.3.3

        Yes, that is what their accountants have coached them to say in order to evade New Zealand tax law.

  5. Alana 5

    When Sam Morgan sold Trademe for $700 million he paid no tax; but a salary earner would pay tax. Where is the justice in that? Simply tax all income.

    • mikesh 5.1

      Sam sold a business worth $700,000 for $ 700,000. There is no profit in that.

      • vto 5.1.1

        you like your semantics eh mikesh…

        of course there is profit when he increased its value from $0 to $700m – that is the profit.

        look mikesh – if you think there should be no tax on capital gains, that is fine. Just as long as there is no tax on income gains as well.

        Problem sorted.

        • mikeshI 5.1.1.1

          Income comes from using our resources to produce goods and services. The cash connection arises only because we usually sell our products for cash. The justification for income tax arises from the fact that the government needs us to use some of our resources to in the provision of public goods. Capital gain is not based on the provision of goods and services.

          • mikesh 5.1.1.1.1

            See my comment at 4.3.1.

          • vto 5.1.1.1.2

            semantics is all you have … and semantics from only very recent history as well…

            “The justification for income tax arises from the fact that the government needs us to use some of our resources to in the provision of public goods.”

            You do realise of course that government never used to tax income at all, and only taxed capital, usually through land and others taxes? Try a bigger and longer picture than just recent neoliberalism mikesh, it will provide more cred.

            And just to repeat from post above;;….

            “one of us earns a measly $22/hour and pays tax on it
            while a family member walks away with $22 million and pays no tax on it

            how the f&%k does that work?”

            How does that work mikesh? In a local community? Where you expect the cleaner to clean the capitalist’s big home and pay tax on that cleaning income, while the capitalist makes truckloads more money and pays no tax? Do you want to live in a community with such growing resentment of the people on the hill? Where the divide becomes ever greater? Where that resentment turns to anger then to hate?

            It is completely unbalanced mikesh. One of our family earns $22 per hour and pays tax on every cent, while another walks away with $22million and pays nothing.

            If you think that is fair then you can get f%#ked

            • mikesh 5.1.1.1.2.1

              Yes. I would certainly agree with land taxes as a substitute for CGT, or even as a substitute for income tax. I have never made a secret of my liking for land taxes.

              The person who has walked away with 22 million has handed over an asset worth that much. So you may as well get fucked as well if you don’t think that’s fair. Better you ask yourself how she finished up with an asset worth that much in the first place place.

              • McFlock

                But if she produced nothing to walk away with $22mil more than what she paid for it (i.e. the capital gain), then she finished up with it by producing nothing. Why not taxt that $22mil? It’s not like she earned it.

                • mikesh

                  But it’s not like the rest of us have a claim on it either.

                  • McFlock

                    Of course we do, as a nation. That magical income suddenly appeared because of the conditions and infrastructure developed by the nation. As an example, for the past fifteen years residential investors have been profiting off government mismanagement of the housing market.

          • vto 5.1.1.1.3

            .
            if no capital gains tax
            .
            then no income gains tax
            .

        • mikesh 5.1.1.2

          The person who purchased the site paid $700,000 because he expected the site to produce sufficient future income to justify that price. However since tax will be paid on that future income, why would you wish to tax the capital gain as well?

          • McFlock 5.1.1.2.1

            I work 30 hrs a week. If I got a second job for ten hours a week, the government taxes that income stream as well.

            And it was $700,000,000.

          • KJT 5.1.1.2.2

            Bull. Again.

            No. Because they expect muggins who pay taxes, to improve services and pay for extra people, to drive demand, so that someone else will pay $1400 000. in a few years.

            If the buyer was paying for future ongoing income, the asset price would reflect what it could earn.

            Farm and house prices are far higher than any future earnings, apart from capital gains, can justify.

        • mikesh 5.1.1.3

          There is justfication for income tax inasmuch as the government needs to divert part of the community’s productive resource to it’s own use. Capital gain is not supported by use of productive resources.

          • vto 5.1.1.3.1

            what on earth does that last sentence mean?

            • mikesh 5.1.1.3.1.1

              It means that capital gain is not supported by productive activity. The asset is still the same as it was when first purchased.

              • Stuart Munro.

                The lack of productivity suggests that capital income should be taxed more than productive income – having failed to do so goes some way to explaining NZ’s lackluster productivity growth over the last few decades.

                • mikesh

                  I would certainly like to see unearned income taxed more heavily. But when I mention “unearned income” I mean the income derived from the employment of capital e.g. rent and interest. Capital gain is not in itself income. I’m referring to what are sometimes called “coupon clipping” activities.

                  • Stuart Munro.

                    Yes it is, which is why most countries tax it.

                    Your argument is very like the NRA one going around, that the recent shooting was not conducted with MSSA. They might not have met the quibbling legal definition, but in practical terms, they emphatically were MSSA. And in the same way, capital gains are income, and no practical person will deny it – only hopeful monsters dedicated to a lifetime of tax evasion even try.

                    • mikesh

                      Keynes said something about “practical people” regurgitating the ideas of some defunct economist.

                    • KJT

                      As you regurgitate the economic theory that couldn’t predict the GFC.
                      In fact they believed that it was impossible.
                      Because their models had become more and more divorced from reality.

                      I prescribe a course of behavioral economics.

                    • mikesh

                      Actually, the economist whose theories I most subscribe to is Michael Hudson. Hudson was one of the few economists who did predict the GFC. However, that has nothing to do with this particular issue.

                      In your case I prescribe a course in taxology.

                    • KJT

                      Actually did.
                      Along with Managerial Economics, Business accounting, including tax law and practice, BTW, Teaching, Engineering, Environmental technology and others, like building and another trade, along the way. I get bored easily.

                      If we are going to play this game.

                      And, i prefer these people. http://evonomics.com/

                      However everyone from Marx and Smith to Chang, King, Steglitz, Robert Reich, have useful insights.

                      The Chicago school, Friedman and Von Mises etc are notable for elegant theory, which fits in with the promotion of wealthy interests, but bear no resemblance to reality.

                  • Capital gain is not in itself income.

                    My salary is not in itself income.

                    Weird – it’s almost like asserting it doesn’t actually make it so…

              • KJT

                With money that requires those of us who do produce something, to work more to pay it back.

                Capital gains take from everyone to make a few wealthy.

                There is absolutely no reason why they should escape tax,.

                And very good economic efficiency reasons why they should be taxed.

                Which is why most countries, do.

                • mikesh

                  Capital gains take from nobody (exept perhaps from the purchaser of the asset).
                  Capital gains may make a few wealthy but they don’t take from anybody, apart from the purchaser of an asset I suppose.
                  Capital owners pay tax on the income yield from their assets – and pay tax.
                  Capital gains taxes are inefficient since reducing people’s capital reduces their capacity to earn income.
                  The capital gains taxes that other countries collect seem pretty inefectual.

                  • KJT

                    “Capital gains take from nobody”.

                    As businesses have to pay higher interest because of the risk incurred by high asset prices.

                    Farmers go bust, pollute, or run the land down, because the prices they have to pay for land, are too many multiples more than farm earnings.

                    The extra roads, services and infrastructure we pay for, for extra people, so capital gains earners can keep making more money.

                    The rise in interest rates to try and keep housing inflation down. Which hurts businesses, and householders with existing mortgages, alike.

                    Take from nobody. My fucking arse.

                    • mikesh

                      The purchaser of an asset pays for any capital gain built into that asset. Nobody else is involved in the transaction.

                      As far as all that other stuff that you mention is concerned, you’re dreaming if you think a capital gains tax will remedy any of it.

                      I wish you would leave your “fucking arse” alone and start using your brain instead.

                    • KJT

                      It won’t fix it alone, but will certainly help.

                    • KJT

                      You are technically correct on your separation of capital gains, and income. If we take the strict economics definition.

                      There are economists that agree it should be taxed, however. In fact we already do. It is just that some forms escape. Often by lying to the IRD, about intentions.

                      However we are talking about the real world effects here.

                      To say that capital gains have no effect on real world distribution of wealth and income, with no effects on anyone apart from buyers and sellers, is just a self serving nonsense,

  6. Ad 7

    Pretty damn late for a government sock puppet to arrive, months after the launch, and well after everyone on talkback has chewed it up to cat-sick constituency.

    Hopefully they have compelling spokespeople who can tilt this.

    The near-silence from our Minister of Finance is a deafening lesson in leadership.

    • ianmac 7.1

      Don’t you think Ad that this might be a good time? National has hammered the possible negatives for a long time. Now would be a good time for the positives to appear as later this month the Tax Plan proper will be published by the Government. Maybe poor old Simon will have to retract his Eyeore behaviour.

      • Ad 7.1.1

        A lot of unnecessary damage has been done by the government refusing to front or even run defence for Cullen.

        This is the signature Finance policy of this government. Yet there has been a complete lack of detectable advocacy strategy or comms strategy from them about it.

        So this government wants to kill CGT completely or water it down to near immateriality.

        This is further demonstrated by the government choosing to go into an election with it – twice.

        The sweet spot they are aiming for is negligible political effect, with maximised income into the government coffers.

        Everything else is smoke.

    • Anne 7.2

      He’ll be keeping his trap shut as much as he can until after he’s delivered his budget.

      Anything he says between now and then will be distorted, misquoted and misinterpreted by the Nats and their media acolytes. Duncan Garner will be in his element and so will the Hosk and the other fellow whose name escapes me at the mo. 😉

      Oh yes, Hooton.

  7. A 8

    Capital gains is one of the few ways I can see of getting ahead. The very last thing this country needs is more tax.

    • vto 8.1

      It’s not more tax you egg, it’s the same amount

      sheesh

    • tc 8.2

      Classic rwnj I’ll informed meme parroted ad naseum.

    • AB 8.3

      “Capital gains is one of the few ways I can see of getting ahead”
      Yes – in a country of mostly modest wages, it is. That’s why rental properties are so popular among the middle class. The issue is that, by definition, it’s not a form of “getting ahead” that is available to all. If we all owned rentals, who would we rent them to?
      In reality therefore, some people’s “getting ahead” depends on others “staying behind” – and there is no justice or humanity in that.

    • ankerawshark 8.4

      A if you make money on your property you will still get ahead. You will just pay some tax on it that’s all

    • mikesh 8.5

      It is more tax. I assume the person paying for the capital gain, namely the purchaser of the asset, will not be receiving an appropriate rebate.

      • McFlock 8.5.1

        No, because they’ll purchase at a price for which they would expect their own capital gain.

        • mikesh 8.5.1.1

          However they are paying with tax paid income though the capital gain produces no ” real” income. So if a CGT is paid as well then more tax is being paid.

          • vto 8.5.1.1.1

            no mikesh, the amount of tax pulled out of the economy will remain the same at around 35% of GDP. Various other tax rates are intended to be amended to ensure the mix remains at 35%.

            There will be no more tax.

            • mikesh 8.5.1.1.1.1

              Probably. But the need to reduce other taxes in order to equalize the tax take proves my point.

          • McFlock 8.5.1.1.2

            They only pay the CGT if they get a “real” gain from selling it. So they’re paying tax on all their income, rather than getting income from capital gains tax-free.

            Otherwise they don’t get a capital gain, do they.

          • mikesh 8.5.1.1.3

            I probably didn’t word that very well. I should have said that a capital gain is just an increase in the value of an asset. (Real) income comes about through the production of additional goods and services available for purchase by the community.

            • KJT 8.5.1.1.3.1

              Still sophistry.

              Looks like income, feels like income and in many cases, swapped by forgoing income, to avoid taxes.

              The arguments against CGT, basically boil down to “I shouldn’t have to pay tax on my investement income, even though you pay tax on yours, because I am special!”

              • mikesh

                Sophistry? Not st all. How can a capital gain be income when it is simply an increase in the value of a asset. You can’t spend it since it is tied up in the asset itself. You can’t knock off a chimney from your rental property an use it to purchase a pair of shoes.

                • KJT

                  There are whole towns full of retired farmers living off capital gains.

                  Can’t live on my Kiwi saver until I am 65 either.
                  Why am I taxed on the interest?

                  Pull the other one.

                  • mikesh

                    I don’t think they are “earning” any capital gains after they have sold their farms and retired. When they were “earning” capital gains they couldn’t spend them, so those gains were not taxable. Even when those gains were “realised” they didn’t suddenly become income.

                    • KJT

                      You still haven’t advanced any credible reasons why capital gains shouldn’t be taxed, apart from, “they are not income”.

                    • mikesh []

                      Actually, I have given other reasons. The duplication of tax is one that springs to mind. I think I have also mentioned the discounted future income argument, though maybe on some other post. I halvel also mentioned the unfairness of taxing CG while leaving other capital untaxed (including unrealised capital gain). I have been somewhat remiss though in not pointing out the TWG’s contention that CGT will do little to alleviate inequality.

                    • KJT

                      When I am “earning” Kiwi saver, i can’t spend it either, but I am sure as hell paying tax on the gains.

                    • KJT

                      Duplication of tax applies to any investment.
                      Doesn’t protect me from paying tax on shares and Kiwi saver earnings, however.

                      Discounted future income fails, when land is sold for so many multiples of future income, that no possible business income from it can repay the sale price. The price level is driven by the expectation of future capital gains. It is a ponzi scheme, but one that seriously skews investment, to our economic detriment.

                      I think the tax working group is not correct in saying CGT, won’t reduce inequality. Housing is one of the prime causes of poverty in New Zealand. Anything which helps reduce the expectation, of tax free capital gains returns on housing, slows the rise in housing costs.

                    • mikesh

                      “Duplication of tax applies to any investment”. So does CGT apparently.

                      Even if the expectation of capital gain drives up prices, discounted future income is still a factor. In any case CGT is not the way to deal with the problem since it will change very. You need to get rid of capital gain in the first place.

                      I can’t speak for the TWG. I’m just reporting what they said, and I assume they know what they are talking about.
                      .

            • Psycho Milt 8.5.1.1.3.2

              Yeah, good luck explaining to the IRD that your income wasn’t actually “real” income because you spent all your work time blathering at people on blog comments threads instead of producing additional goods and services like you were being paid for. It’s hard to picture that being a successful gambit…

  8. Tuppence Shrewsbury 9

    The problem with this campaign is it’s obvious that justice isn’t on the organisers minds.

    if they wanted tax justice, they’d advocate for a CGT that matched company, trust and top level tax rates while lowering all tax bands according to how much tax was brought in by the new tax.

    this bunch of work shy whingers have openly said it’s about wealthier people paying more on capital gains AND more on income so those less well off can pay less. That’s punitive and self interested.

    So really they are no better than the greedy capital owners who reduce income to pathetic levels to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

    • vto 9.1

      what a pile of horse dung

      At the moment the capital owners can make money by capital gain and pay no tax at all, while someone slaving on $20 per hour pays tax on everything.

      This CGT re-adjustment isn’t punitive and self-interested – this re-adjustment is rectifying what is already punitive and self-interested against the workers who currently pay all the tax while the lazy, bludging capital owners pay nothing.

      The capital owners need to stop bludging off the workers

      • Tuppence Shrewsbury 9.1.1

        Thanks for completely misunderstanding my comment. in your normal turgidly uncomprehending way you’ve completely missed the point that I wasn’t criticising a CGT.

        I was criticising this group for their blatant self interest and bull shit posturing on “Justice”

        I’m in favour of a CGT. I’m not in favour of these morons being the public organisational voice of championing for CGT as the wider electorate is rightly suspicious of any group that has to name itself after a virtue they have no control over.

        When you see a car dealer who has named themselves honest john, do you automatically believe they are actually honest?

        I also don’t see how lumping in a desired increase in income tax against “high” earners is “Justice” because this group represent people who don’t earn that much.

        • KJT 9.1.1.1

          Sorry to bust your bubble, but I pay CGT, now, and will definitely be paying more if the top tax rate goes up.

          Unlike some, i think it is fair to pay my share of the price, of living in a functioning civilized country.

          High income earners have had considerable tax cuts since the 80’s, while those on low income, have had tax increases and welfare cuts, as well as deteriorating state services. Justice means reversing some of this.

          “Trickle down”doesn’t work.

      • ankerawshark 9.1.2

        vto “what a pile of horse dung” . 100%

      • makesh 9.1.3

        I don’t think ” lazy, bludging capital owners” pay no tax. Their assets must be yielding income on which they are paying tax. If those assets are not earning income for their owners then applying Gareth Morgan’s RFRM tax would be a better way of dealing with them. In their case such a tax would be more lucrative for the government.

    • cleangreen 9.2

      Tuppence Shrewsbury – produces biggest pile of horse dung ever here.

  9. WeTheBleeple 10

    Reading the Herald comments it seems fear, group think and ignorance are driving opposition.

    The whole “it takes from the hard working and gives to the lazy” is a stupid and blatant lie.

    Public education is sorely needed, and reporters should declare their conflicts of interest or stop stirring the pot.

    • mac1 10.1

      But those so-called hard-working people who gain income from selling properties have to call themselves hard-working because otherwise they’d have to acknowledge that their income is hardly hard-earned, but rather is unearned income.

      Then they’d have to admit that they were the lazy ones. It’s all about self-justification and greed.

      Yeah, they’ll say. You’re just practising the politics of envy. That’s their best defence. That, or ‘virtue-signalling’, which is what my parents would have called practising what is moral, and right.

      Tax ’em, and punish the bludging tax-dodgers, and late payers, who already cost this country billions.

      • infused 10.1.1

        you idiots understand its more than just housing, right? It shows your prejudice.

        • mac1 10.1.1.1

          Income is income.

          I am prejudiced against people earning income?

        • Graeme 10.1.1.2

          Yeah, ALL income from the sale of any asset (except the family home) will be treated the same and be taxable.

          Rather than now where someone can say they have no intention of selling the asset (cross my heart and promise to god etc etc) and the asset magically becomes un-taxable. The current tax “exemption” on income from capital gains is predicated on a deceit and I don’t see how that is fair or honest.

          And if the business plan relies on a capital gain to turn a profit, then the intention is to sell and therefore taxable even under the current rules.

      • Stuart Munro. 10.1.2

        You won’t get that view in the Harold – real estate is a pretty big advertiser.

    • Wensleydale 10.2

      You need to take into account the sorts of people who routinely read Granny Herald. Especially given the sorts of people who routinely write for Granny Herald.

      • cleangreen 10.2.1

        Wensleydale,

        Those who read ‘Granny Herald’ are sadly brainwashed fools as the herald is a corporate rag not worth the cost of toilet paper.

        Best keep distance from this right wing rag.

        ‘Scoop’ is a far more honest educator of public affairs.

  10. timeforacupoftea 11

    Capital Gains TAX is all over – can’t see it going through now as Taxlcinda’s baby Neve wants to keep her nanny employed.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 11.1

      Given that the 4th Labour Government introduced a 10% GST, and then increased it to 12.5% (in 1989), and that the last hike (to 15%) occurred October 2010 (“to pay for income tax cuts by the [5th] National Government“), maybe it’s time for another increase.

      In order to raise government revenue to meet the increasing costs of social security/welfare, health, education etc., the government is considering increasing taxes. Which would you prefer: a CGT, or 17.5% GST?

      Problem is that each year there’s less money to go around the 50% least wealthy NZers, but they still need enough to live, if we want to be considered a developed country.

      • timeforacupoftea 11.1.1

        I would go without !
        I would like to see it go further such as 20% GST

        First $20,000 earned income tax free thereafter $20,000 and above $20,000 earned to $150,000 income tax 40% from $150,000 to as much as you want to earn $65% tax.

        GST on everything,
        You buy a House, Farm, Car etc 20% GST would be applied.
        Remove cash and move into electronic transactions only.

        Remove all excise tax’s booze fuel etc

        GST on everything ( barn the above ) and no claiming back GST for business or anyone.
        Same TAX rates for Business repeat : ( First $20,000 earned income tax free thereafter $20,000 and above $20,000 earned to $150,000 earned income tax 40% from $150,000 to as much as you want to earn $65% tax. )

  11. Ian 12

    This capital gains tax fiasco is just a diversion for David Parker to stick the boot into dairy farmers as we rescue your sorry arses once again.

    • Your heroic efforts to farm capital gains at the expense of our waterways goes woefully unrecognised by the nation, totes.

    • KJT 12.2

      We need CGT, to pay for drought relief, irrigation schemes, nitrate treatment for water, MB, unemployment from “Free trade” deals to suit farmers, income support for your underpaid farm workers, and all the other times we have “rescued your sorry arses, again”.

  12. UncookedSelachimorpha 13

    Great to see an organisation promoting a view that is opposed to the interests of extreme wealth – normally extreme wealth does all the talking in our society.

    I support any tax change that works against the extreme inequality that exists in NZ, and the proposed (fairly crippled) CGT is a small step in the right direction.

    The key thought for these discussions should always be that the poorest 40% own 3% of the nation’s wealth, while the richest 10% own 60% of the wealth. We need to change that.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 13.1

      Completely agree with this.

    • mikesh 13.2

      A CGT would actually be counterproductive since, once it is introduced, the PTB will say “problem solved” and no further action will then be taken to alleviate inequality. This, I have always thought, is the main problem with CGT. It gives rise to sort of Gresham’s law situation, and seems to get in the way of more effective approaches.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 13.2.1

        “A CGT would actually be counterproductive since, once it is introduced, the PTB will say “problem solved” and no further action will then be taken to alleviate inequality”

        You could actually say that about any single step to reduce inequality.

        But I agree that this CGT is only going to address inequality slightly, and other approaches are needed as well – and if this is the best the Tax working Group and Coalition can come up with, it is pretty pathetic (and shows they aren’t much bothered by current inequality in NZ).

        The fact the extremely wealthy in NZ are so opposed to the CGT suggests it probably has some merit.

  13. mikesh 14

    “You could actually say that about any single step to reduce inequality.”
    No. I don’t think you can. It goes without saying that building more houses, state houses in particular, would be more effective: though of course there is a limit to how many houses can be built in a short space of time. However, reigning in bank lending could also be very effective. RBNZ seems unwilling to do much at the moment to reduce lending into the housing market for fear of bringing about a collapse, but if it were up to me I would impose a high reserve ratio on the banks, perhaps as much as 100%, and I would have no qualms about collapsing the housing market. I would even consider forcing the banks to write off some of the debt of recent purchasers who found themselves under water : though of course such measures would have to subject to means testing.
    Radical? Perhaps. But I wouldn’t be messing around with a namby pampy CGT

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  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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