John MacDonald: Another ham-fisted announcement from the Labour Party

So another ham-fisted announcement from the Labour Party.

In fact, it wasn’t even an announcement. Because of a leak, it was forced this morning to confirm its plan to include a capital gains tax in its policies for next year’s election.

Which looks to me like a very watered-down, scaredy-cat version of a capital gains tax that won’t impress many.

Because, if they were serious, they’d apply it to everything. None of these exclusions. Which I’ll get to.

Another fly in the ointment - aside from all the exclusions and the leak - is what the money from the tax would be used on. Three free doctor’s visits a year for all of us.

Which I think would create more problems than it would be worth.

So, if Labour forms the next government, it will introduce a capital gains tax that, if it’s to be believed, would only apply to what seems like a very short list of things.

There’d be no capital gains on the sale of the family home and there’d be no capital gains on the sale of farms. But there would be a capital gains tax on the sale of rental properties and commercial properties.

So the farmers would be happy and the landlords - residential and commercial - would be brassed-off.

There would also be no capital gains tax on KiwiSaver, shares, business assets, inheritances, and personal items. Which, Labour says, would mean 90 percent of us not paying any tax on any property we own and all of us getting three free doctor’s visits a year.

That’s because the revenue from this new tax would be funnelled straight into the health system

But has Labour really thought it through? Because, as soon as you start telling people they can go to the doctor for free three times a year, what chance do you think they’ll actually be able to get an appointment with everyone doing the same?

What’s more, Labour says “one in six New Zealanders cannot afford to visit their doctor when they are sick.” So why aren’t they targetting those people?

Why would you give free doctor’s visits to the five-out-of-six who can afford to go to the doctor?

That’s why this tax proposal is Labour’s second-worst policy idea in the last few years, coming a very close second to the non-sensical, last-minute GST-off-fruit-and-vegetables idea it cooked up before the last election.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from NEWSTALKSB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
So here we are. It's a new week and another
ham fisted announcement from the Labor Party. In fact, in fact,
it wasn't even an announcement. This is in relation to
its plan to include a capital gains tax in its
policies for next year's election, and instead of announcing it,
the party was forced to confirm it this morning after

(00:35):
information was leaked to the media, which is as a
whole other problem for Chris Hipkins, because it doesn't make
the ship that he's running look very tight, does it.
And we'll ask him about that when he's with us
straight after ten tomorrow for a regular catch up. The
other problem he's got, in my view anyway, is that

(00:57):
this looks like a very watered down, scaredy cat version
of a capital gains tax that I'm picking won't and
press many. I mean, if you were serious, you would
apply it to everything, wouldn't you. None of these exclusions
or exemptions, which I'll run you through in a second.

(01:17):
Another fly in the ointment, apart aside from the exclusions
in the leak, of course, is what the money from
the tax would be used on. Now, apparently the capital
gains tax would give us all three free doctors visits
a year, which I think would create more problems than

(01:39):
it would be worth. I'll come back to that, but
here's a little bit of the policy detail that's been
confirmed this morning. So Labor says, if it forms the
next government, it will introduce a twenty eight percent capital
gains tax that, if it's to be believed, we'd only

(01:59):
apply to what seems like a very short, very short
list of things here. There'd be no capital gains tax
on the sale of the family home, and there'd be
no capital gains tax on sale of farms, but there
would be a twenty eight percent capital gains tax on
the sale of rental properties and commercial properties, so the
farmers would be happy a and the landlord's residential and

(02:22):
commercial they'd be brassed off. There will also be no
capital gains tax on kiwisaver shares, business assets, inheritances, and
personal items. They'd all be excluded as well, which Labour says,
all up would mean ninety percent of us not paying
any tax on our property, on the property we own,

(02:44):
and all of us getting three free doctor's visits a year.
How well, that's because the extra money that they would
get if they're in government after next year's election, the
extra money they would get from the capital gains tax
would be ring fenced and funneled straight into the health system,
specifically to give every New Zealander three free doctors visits

(03:06):
every year. And my response to that is this, have
you really thought this through?

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Have you?

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Because as soon as you start telling people that they
can go to the doctor for free three times a year,
what chance do you think they'll actually be able to
get an appointment because everyone will be doing the same.
What's more, the statement that Labor put out this morning
after the information was leaked to the media says, quote
one in six New Zealanders cannot afford to visit their
doctor when they are sick, end of quote. So why

(03:39):
aren't they targeting those people? Why would you give free
doctors visits to the five out of six who can
afford to go to the doctor. People like me are
youn enough to pay to see the doctor. I don't
need free bees. And it'll be interesting to see how
this goes down with people, because a few weeks back,
a Red Research poll found that forty two point six

(04:01):
percent of US would support a capital gains tax if
it didn't include the family home. It's not Labour's proposing.
Thirty eight point five or thirty five point eight percent
still wouldn't support it. But the poll also found that
if a capital gains tax was applied to the family home,
only eleven percent would be cain and seventy percent of
people would be opposed.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
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