One bad poll and Chris Hipkins is reaching for the gasoline to restart the policy bonfire. Cue the howls of outrage from the hard left as Hipkins signals that capital gains tax and wealth tax ideas are a dead duck.
Labour will not propose a wealth tax or a capital gains tax at the election, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday.
“I’m confirming today that under a Government I lead there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election. End of story.”
He said “now is simply not the time for a big shake-up of our tax system”.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said there had been work “on a range of proposals for a tax switch” in the Budget 2023 process.
“Particularly based on a revenue neutral switch that would have seen a tax-free zone created of up to $10,000, funded by increased tax on the wealthiest New Zealanders.”
“This work began in 2022, but ultimately the decision was made not to go ahead with it given the significance of the change in difficult and highly uncertain economic conditions.”
Hipkins said in a statement on Wednesday “while work was already under way on a potential wealth tax and CGT as part of a tax switch in the Budget, I ultimately made the call not to proceed with it”.
“We simply didn’t have a mandate to implement those tax changes.”
Stuff
Nice spin, but the truth is Labour are not completely stupid: they know that a wealth tax, like that proposed by the Greens, is electoral poison. He could have said this months ago, either before or immediately after the budget.
Hipkins is just spinning, reality suggests that this bad poll, from their own pollsters, has frightened the horses, and Hipkins is staring down the barrel of losing half his caucus in the bloodletting.
He sprays more gasoline on the policy bonfire and capital gains and wealth taxes are dead…for now.
You just know, deep down, that he really, really wants to do this. Don’t give him hope. Vote for either National, Act or NZ First to make sure these taxes never take flight again.
The only good thing has been watching lefty heads explode at the announcement.
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