Podcasts about Tax Working Group

If you ever feel like you’re always being asked to donate money to some cause or another, you probably aren’t wrong. In New Zealand, there are more than 28,000 registered charities – with an annual income of more than $21 billion – on top of over 110,000 not for profit organisations. Legislation leaves the definition of a charity pretty broad – if you say you’re tackling poverty, advancing education or religion, or beneficial to the community in any way, you could sign up to the charities register. That broad definition is in the spotlight again this week though, after an aggressive protest by Destiny Church at a rainbow family event sparked backlash over the church’s charitable status. So, is the law up to date, or is it time we take a look at what organisations are getting a tax break? Today on The Front Page, former Independent Advisor to the Tax Working Group, Andrea Black, is with us to discuss. Today on The Front Page, University of Otago professor of public health, Peter Crampton joins us to give a rundown on our health system. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsSound Engineer/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Ethan SillsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the love of all that is holy - can we just introduce a capital gains tax and be done with it?  I am so sick of it dominating the headlines. The issue is never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going to go away, despite two Labour Prime Ministers ruling it out, despite Christopher Luxon ruling it out - it comes up. It's like a nagging child, “I want a capital gains tax. I want a capital gains tax, I want a capital gains tax, I want a capital gains tax”, and then in the end you give in. This time it's because ANZ's Chief Executive, Antonia Watson, said in an interview yesterday that “the time has arrived for a capital gains tax”. Well, the time actually arrived with the Tax Working Group's recommendation in recent times, but nonetheless. She says look, there might be compliance costs introducing a tax, she also made it very clear she was opposed to any tax on unrealised gains, but she says a capital gains tax should be introduced and it should be introduced now. And her intervention adds another voice in a growing group of New Zealanders, influential and otherwise, who are calling for a capital gains or wealth tax.   As I say, the issue really came to the fore when the tax working group, chaired by Sir Michael Cullen and convened by the Ardern government, recommended a CGT be introduced. But then NZ First dug in their toes and refused to budge, so Jacinda Ardern ruled it out and she didn't just rule it out, she said it would never happen on her watch as Prime Minister, and it didn't. Then Chris Hipkins became Prime Minister leading a Labour government, and he ruled it out too. But that was then, and this is now. Now he's singing a different song as he was to Ryan Bridge on Early Edition this morning”  “I think what we've got to acknowledge is at the moment the New Zealand tax system is loaded against working people. Working people end up paying more tax because we're not taxing other forms of income as our other comparable countries do. There's capital gains tax here in the UK, there's capital gains tax in Australia, and so many other countries, that there isn't in New Zealand and what does that mean? It means that salary and wage earners, the people who work hard every day for a living, end up paying a disproportionate share of the tax because we're not taxing other forms of income.”  Oh, Chris Hipkins, champion of the working man. Where were you when you had a government that had a mandate to do anything at jolly well liked? Oh, that's right, you were there and you ruled it out. This is the same Chris Hipkins who had the best opportunity of any government since MMP was introduced to reform the tax system, he had a cabinet that was champing at the bit to reform the tax system. This is the Chris Hipkins who said no to a capital gains tax. David Parker resigned over the fact he said no to a capital gains tax, he resigned his portfolio - “untenable for me to continue”. Grant Robertson admitted he'd had to swallow a dead rat by standing by his Prime Minister when he wanted to introduce a capital gains tax. This is the Chris Hipkins who released a statement saying I am confirming today that under a government I lead, there will be no wealth or capital gains tax after the election, end of story.   So this is why you cannot have former Prime Ministers leading in opposition because they have absolutely no credibility when their statements from only a few months back come back to haunt them. His credibility on his capital gains tax is shot. Barbara Edmonds, get her up there talking about it, she's untainted. She doesn't have the ghost of Chris Hipkins from yesteryear, well, yestermonth, coming back to haunt her. Carmel Sepuloni. Hell, Jim, the guy who serves the drinks at 3.2, get him up there to say I think a capital gains tax would be fabulous.   You cannot have Chris Hipkins calling for a capital gains tax, he has absolutely no credibility. But the issue is simply not going to go away. And I think sooner rather than later, we need to adopt. I even think Sir Michael Cullen's recommendations were not unreasonable. There will come a time where it will be introduced, and we need to do it credibly and not in a knee jerk reaction, and with the best interests of the entire country at heart. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I wanted to start with something that always generates a lot of chat and that is the inevitability about raising the age of eligibility for superannuation and, to a lesser extent the introduction of a capital gains tax. National under Bill English came very, very close to getting the age lifted to 67. It wouldn't have happened until 2040, but it would have happened. So John Key left and came Bill English and managed to get the age of eligibility for super lifted to 67 by 2040, not overnight - by 2040. However. As we know, along came the Labour NZ First Coalition government and they nixed that, and the age of eligibility remains at 65. Despite National and ACT pledging to lift the super age from 65 to 67 during the election campaign, along came NZ First again to form the coalition government and their stance is unequivocal. The age of retirement will remain at 65 years, no ifs, no buts, no maybeys. You can retire at anytime you like, they mean, of course, the age at which you can get the Super. So as long as the coalition government has a New Zealand first component the age will remain at 65, where it has been since eligibility for super was raised progressively from 60 to 65 over a relatively short frame of time, 1992 to 2001. That's not a lot of time for people to adjust. At the moment, 70% of the OECD has a pension age of 65 or lower. Countries are slowly increasing their pension age, but the majority are only moving the age up to 65 over the next four decades. New Zealand Super is critical to the majority of New Zealanders right now who don't have the benefit of a big KiwiSaver fund. If you've been working your whole life and you've been in KiwiSaver your whole life, your retirement will look a little bit different. But at the moment, a lot of New Zealanders have super and super only. 40% of people aged 65 and over have virtually no other income besides New Zealand Super, 20% have just a little bit more, so they are doing it tough. And the reason that the Super and capital gains tax is back in the news is because the outgoing Treasury head says changes are needed to fix the Crown's structural deficit. We need to find new ways of generating revenue and cutting expenditure and that means a capital gains tax and a more efficient superannuation scheme. This is Dr Caralee McLiesh. She's leaving Treasury, and this is part of her exit interview. However, although it makes sense for the age to be raised, as we all live longer and we live more healthy lives, and as KiwiSaver funds become more of a buffer between poverty, at the moment if you're living just on your super, things are tough. If you have your Super and your KiwiSaver, life would look a little bit better. Former Reserve Bank economist Michael Reddell told Mike Hosking this morning he doubts that any government is bold enough to raise the retirement age and bring in a capital gains tax. "Well, I mean, National has campaigned in the last two or three elections for very slowly raising the retirement age. NZ First is the block, they're in absolute no on this. Labour back in 2014 campaigned on it. I think almost everyone recognises, in policy circles, that it's good and sensible and necessary and overdue adjustment. What will enable someone finally to make the move, I'm not sure. Maybe it takes another crisis. Capital gains tax isone of those where there's sort of a lot more, you know, genuine difference of view as to whether it's fair and right and also whether it will raise much revenue. A lot of the capital gains in the last few years have been house price inflation, Chris Bishop tells us that his housing reforms are going to cut house prices so there might not be much revenue there." Michael Reddell, former Reserve Bank economist, talking to Mike Hosking this morning. Of course, most policies that have been put forward looking at a capital gains tax would exempt the family home so house prices are neither here nor there, unless you have a portfolio of them. Labour, of course you'll remember, this is when we last had torrid discussions on a capital gains tax. They had the golden opportunity to introduce one when they were in power, but chose not to do so. There was a recommendation from the Tax Working Group set up by the Coalition Government to introduce a capital gains tax and Jacinda Ardern said no, as long as I'm leader, it's not going to happen. You won't see it while I am leader, it won't be introduced on my watch. I believe in a capital gains tax, it's clear many New Zealanders do not. I am ruling out a capital gains tax under my leadership in the future. That's what Jacinda Ardern said at the time. Of course, NZ First had something to do with it but for years, Labour had campaigned on introducing a capital gains tax, for years and years, their own Tax Working Group said it was a good idea. And then they take ownership of ruling it out entirely, not just until we can get rid of Winston, but entirely. So under the leadership off goes Jacinda Ardern and in comes Chris Hipkins. So there were reformists within Labour who said right now's the time. We don't have to faff around with any other political parties. We don't have to make compromise or concession, now's the time to do it. No, said Chris Hipkins, we need to get elected. We need to get reelected because otherwise it's going to be stink in opposition. So he nixed it as well. It is hard to see when such an opportunity will come again in the near future. I agree. I think it would be very hard for a political party to introduce a capital gains tax now. But the upshot is New Zealand needs to spend less and make more money. Just like our households - spend less, make more money if we want to fund the lifestyle we enjoy. And I just don't think enough people have grasped that yet, we still want all the bells and whistles, we want the cherry on top. We can barely afford the cake, far less the icing and the cherry on top. We have to make cuts somewhere. We have to get revenue from somewhere. Where is it going to be? Raising the age of eligibility for Super is probably a very, very good start. It's been talked about for years. It's been fiddled around with for years. Bill English came very close to getting it in but while NZ First has anything to do with anything, it will remain at 65. And we simply can't afford that, unless we raise taxes so that the people who are turning 65 in the next 10 years will effectively pay for that.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matthew Seddon, one of this year's finalists in the Tax Policy Charitable Trust prize competition, discusses his suggestion to expand the withholding tax regime to contractors. This is one way of addressing the tax gap identified by the last Tax Working Group in 2018.

I am absolutely gobsmacked at the sheer gall of Labour even considering, suggesting, putting it out there, hey, run it up the flagpole, some form of capital gains tax might be back on the agenda. Apparently Barbara Edmonds, who is the finance spokesperson for Labour, is just putting it out there, seeing what people think. How very dare they for two glaringly obvious reasons. A) because they had every opportunity to introduce a capital gains tax or to revamp the taxation system not just once, but twice during their six long years in office. They set up the Tax Working Group to come up with recommendations to make New Zealand's tax system a fairer one, and when the working group Chair, Sir Michael Cullen, presented the final report, the Tax Working Group said, look, we support a broad-based tax on capital gains and suggested that handing back much of the $8.3 billion it might raise over five years through income tax cuts for almost all workers. The proposals, had they been adopted, would take billions from the wealthy and give most of that money back quite evenly to millions of taxpayers, which all sounds kind and fair and true to Labour's socialist roots and not completely unreasonable. As Sir Michael said, it was wrong that wage earners were taxed on their full income while you can earn income from gains on assets and not be taxed at all. So, all very Labour and all very true to the cause. But what did Jacinda Ardern do? She ignored the recommendations and said a Capital Gains Tax wouldn't happen while she was leader.  There was another attempt when Labour had an absolute majority in its final term to introduce a Capital Gains Tax. Both David Parker, the Revenue Minister, and Finance Minister Grant Robertson were for it. They'd done a lot of work on it, they'd picked up the work that the Tax Working Group had done. Chris Hipkins knew the electorate wouldn't stand for it, so put that proposal, along with many others on the bonfire, in a desperate and futile attempt to win back voters. And not only that, demoted David Parker. Well, David Parker to be fair excused himself or recused himself from being Minister because he didn't support ditching their Capital Gains Tax. It was an opportunity in a political lifetime to make effective change. His boss didn't have the cajones for it, so David Parker stepped back and was demoted and has since sort of languishing down in the ranks now.   So they had every opportunity to introduce a Capital Gains Tax and now they're in opposition they're talking about, hey, maybe we should look at some form of inheritance tax based on the Irish Capital Acquisitions Tax. It's galling.   And B), the other reason they shouldn't have the temerity to even suggest it, is because how could they possibly believe that New Zealanders would trust them with another brass cent? Even now, even the most deluded of fervent Labour supporters must look at the money that has been wasted. The money that is being wasted with nothing to show for it, and it makes me want to weep. If they were sensible stewards of our tax dollars, if they or any political party could show that they were sensible managers of our money, fill your boots. Take more of my tax dollars, take the money that I haven't earned, that's just come along with the rise in property values, bring in a 33% tax as Ireland is doing on unearned windfalls, ensure that everyone, not just the children of property owners, benefits from the accumulated wealth. Sure, do it, but for Labour to suggest taking more money from New Zealanders with their track record of waste etched into so many, many minds. It's going to take a very long time to forget that.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Labour holds its next party conference at the end of the year, tax policy is likely to be near the top of its agenda.  Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds sent a strong signal in March that a comprehensive capital gains tax may be back on its table, questioning the fairness of the current tax system.  The Labour Party's understood to be considering whether to advocate for an inheritance tax, taking inspiration from an Irish model.  In Ireland, a 33% tax is applied to inheritance's worth more than NZ$558 thousand.  Dentons Kensington Swan Partner and tax expert Bruce Bernacchi told Kerre Woodham that he's not surprised Labour is raising the idea of a comprehensive capital gains tax again.  He said that they campaigned on it in 2011 and 2014 and had the Tax Working Group in 2019 recommend it over a wealth or inheritance tax.  Bernacchi said that this is their opportunity to forge ahead with a coherent policy, introducing a capital gains tax that would raise money, people will understand, and it will be effective, instead of an extremely complex inheritance tax.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A GST expert says it is possible to remove the tax from fruit and veges, but whether it's good policy is another question. National's Nicola Willis claims it's part of Labour's election tax policy, that's been leaked to her. Labour won't confirm or deny it. Deloitte GST specialist Allan Bullot told Mike Hosking we can make rules to do just about anything, but it might not be the best use of resources. He says the tax working group looked at a number of studies, including from overseas, and found only 30 percent of savings end up in consumers' hands. LISTEN ABOVE   'Not a bad idea': Is GST off fruit and veges Labour's new tax policy? -Thomas Coughlan, NZ Herald Labour is planning to resuscitate a policy from its disastrous 2011 election campaign to revive its ailing electoral hopes: taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables. That is according to National Party Finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis who said she had been handed details of the plan. Willis has form in this area, claiming earlier this year that Labour was in the advanced stages of implementing a wealth tax, which turned out to be true. The Herald has confirmed Labour has looked at changes to GST as part of its tax policy - although the final details have not been announced. It is the second major leak from Labour in as many days. Willis warned the tax would hand millions to some of the country's largest and most profitable companies who would absorb the cut, and fatten their margins. A Labour Party battered and bruised from losing its fourth minister in seven months, and beset by a major leak from caucus this week, did not deny the tax rumours, with at least one MP saying the policy sounded like a good idea. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, speaking from Christchurch, did not deny the rumours. “I'm not going to announce a tax policy today and Nicola Willis should be focused on making her own policies add up,” Hipkins said. Police Minister Ginny Andersen, a Hipkins loyalist, noted it was an idea that had been “considered before - it's a nice idea”. “Yeah it's not a bad idea,” she said. National's finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis said she had been leaked the policy immediately before Question Time on Thursday. Photo / Mark Mitchell Asked whether the plan was actually Labour policy, Andersen said it would be “pre-announcing the Labour Party tax policy”. The Government's new Revenue Minister Barbara Edmonds also did not deny Labour would be taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables. “Every party will have the ability to release their tax policies and ours is coming out in the coming weeks,” Edmonds said. “I'm not going to release our tax policy without the Prime Minister,” she said. Edmonds took over the role just this week after her predecessor David Parker asked to be reshuffled out of the job saying it was “untenable” for him to continue. Parker did not stop to take questions on his way to the House on Thursday - the fifth time he has walked away from waiting media since Hipkins revealed he had killed Parker's beloved wealth tax. Illustration / Rod Emmerson The policy, if correct, puts the party at odds with economists, at odds with its own Tax Working Group, at odds with coalition partners the Greens - and even at odds with Finance Minister Grant Robertson who rubbished the idea as recently as May. “GST is a comprehensive tax which makes it very easy to administer and people in the room who've been in other countries with more exemptions will know it becomes an absolute boondoggle to get through,” Robertson told Newshub in March last year. “If you do it off fresh fruit and vegetables, or even staple products, then you get into an argument of what's the difference between beetroot and canned beetroot, and if you want to make a real impact on the lowest income people you wouldn't cut the tax off fresh beetroot - that's not what people on low incomes buy,” he said. Green Party co-leader James Shaw said his party thought a GST cut was the wrong way to go, arguing that other countries had issues in deciding what counted as “fresh” and what did not. In the United Kingdom, for example, chickens were taxed at different rates in the same establishment depending on whether they were cooked or not. “We think it's better to focus on people's incomes,” Shaw said. Shaw cited his own party's policy which was to implement a wealth and trust tax to pay for tax cuts for 95 per cent of income taxpayers. New Revenue Minister Barbara Edmonds. Photo / Angus Dreaver, RNZ Of all the parties in Parliament, only Te Pāti Māori backed the GST policy, but it wants to go further, taking GST off all food. On Thursday, it unveiled a suite of other tax changes, including income tax cuts paid for by a wealth tax and hiking income and company tax. Infometrics chief executive and economist Brad Olsen described the idea as “pure politics over economics - I've never, ever, spoken to an expert in the field before in economics or tax policy who says ‘this is good policy, love it'. Everyone thinks it's diabolically silly.” Olsen said there was no way to guarantee the GST cut was “passed on and, more importantly… passed on in perpetuity”, warning firms would simply absorb the GST cut, particularly in a time of high inflation. Deloitte GST Partner Allan Bullot said the problem with taking GST off fresh fruit and vegetables was how to make it work, and whether suppliers and retailers will simply hike prices. “I think that would actually be quite difficult to do. Then there's ongoing [questions] of how do you do it? “What do you do if the supermarket suppliers themselves put the prices up to the supermarkets [or] if you've got a non-resident that says, ‘Oh, I see that New Zealand is taking GST off food - I'll crank my prices up'.” He said it raised questions of whether seeds and fertiliser should also be GST exempt. Sir Michael Cullen's Tax Working Group called a GST exemption "complex, poorly targeted for achieving distributional goals and generate significant compliance costs". Photo / Mark Mitchell NZ Initiative chief economist Dr Eric Crampton told TVNZ's Breakfast this morning that removing GST from some foods had worked “very badly” in other countries, with some becoming tied up in litigation over which foods qualified. Even taking GST off all foods - as proposed by Te Pāti Māori - would have saved the lowest-income households only about $17 per week at the time the Tax Working Group looked at the issue in 2018. “You could do a lot more good by simply increasing transfers to lower income communities by above that amount, rather than trying to take GST off of food. “So generally you want to have an increase in broad-based taxes - not punch holes in GST - and then use the money to give it to people who you think need it.” The Tax Working Group, established by Labour in its first term and led by former Labour Finance Minister Michael Cullen, dismissed targeted GST exemptions as “complex, poorly targeted for achieving distributional goals and generate significant compliance costs. Furthermore, it is not clear whether the benefit of specific GST exceptions are passed on to consumers.” It said taking GST off all food and drink - a far broader policy than what Labour is proposing - would cost $2.4b a year in 2018, and benefit the wealthiest 10 per cent of households more than three times as much as the poorest 10 per cent. Edmonds said that she was a “team player” and that she would implement the Labour tax policy. “Whatever the tax policy that our party will release, I will make sure if I come back as the Minister of Revenue, I will make workable,” she said. Having different rates of GST on different items is often criticised for creating a compliance burden for businesses, which is passed on to consumers. Edmonds said this challenge was not insurmountable. “There is always a compliance issue with any tax regime and it's something that ministers and any party would need to work through,” she said. Labour had planned to announce its tax policy last week but pulled the announcement sometime after the party's Tuesday morning caucus meeting. Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor of the New Zealand Herald, which he joined in 2021. He previously worked for Stuff and Newsroom in their Press Gallery offices in Wellington. He started in the Press Gallery in 2018.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The prospect of inheritance tax is rearing its head again.The government's allocating $5 million over two years to Inland Revenue to assess the income and wealth of New Zealand's high-wealth individuals.PWC tax partner and Tax Working Group member Geof Nightingale says there's no good data on wealth from Tax Working Group's research on capital taxes, but there is good data on income and wealth distribution.“I think it's a long bow to draw back and say that means the Government are preparing the ground for an inheritance tax.”LISTEN ABOVE

According to research from Inland Revenue and Treasury, the wealthiest New Zealanders pay just 12 per cent of their total income in tax on average.The same research found 42 per cent of the wealthiest New Zealanders were paying lower tax rates than the lowest tax rate paid by people who earn their money from an ordinary job or a benefit.The reason for the disparity between New Zealand's wealthiest people and regular salary and wage earners is that the wealthiest New Zealanders tend to earn a large part of their income in parts of the economy that are either taxed lightly or not taxed at all.So how do we better calculate the wealth of rich people?PwC partner Geof Nightingale was a member of the Government's Tax Working Group which was created to consider the future of tax.He joined Kerre McIvor to share his knowledge on the issue.LISTEN ABOVE

Carol Gibbs was worried about her neighbors. As the president of the Mt. Auburn Community Development Corporation, she saw how new development in her neighborhood was driving up property taxes, putting residents who lived in the neighborhood for many years in danger of losing their homes.

This week Andrea Black (ex Inland Revenue and Treasury and former independent advisor to the Tax Working Group) and I take a closer look at the impact for Inland Revenue of its Business Transformation programme and find some puzzling discrepancies

The C.D. Howe Institute’s Fiscal and Tax Working Group is urging Ottawa to recommit to the idea of fiscal sustainability. As former finance ministers John Manley and Janice MacKinnon tell Michael Hainsworth, the federal government can’t do the heavy lifting of restarting the economy on its own.

Labour has announced it will introduce a new tax bracket of 39 percent on income over $180,000 if it returns to power after next month's election. Finance Minister Grant Robertson expects this would raise about $500m a year. Geof Nightingale is a tax specialist at PwC and was a member of the Government's Tax Working Group last year. He speaks to Corin Dann.

Affordable Housing - Andrea Black is Policy Director/Economist | NZ Council of Trade Unions Andrea comes to the CTU with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Andrea is a Senior Associate at the Institute of Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University. She was formerly the Independent Advisor to the Tax Working Group and before that held senior positions at Inland Revenue and the Treasury Broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin www.oar.org.nz

The financial situation for New Zealand's District Health Boards is continuing to deteriorate, with newly released data showing all but one are in the red.And the overall position is expected to get worst too, with the Ministry of Health forecasting an end of financial year deficit of more than half a billion dollars.The combined deficit for all 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) stands at $103 million as of August last year – according to the latest data available.That's $20 million higher than the reported deficit at the same time the year prior.The Ministry of Health (MoH) published the data in the first week of this month.National's Health spokesman Michael Woodhouse said the data was "quietly released" by the MoH over the summer period so the numbers would get little attention.He has accused Health Minister David Clark of putting DHBs in a perilous financial position through "sheer incompetence"."David Clark has shown little appetite or ability to remedy the situation. He's out of his depth and he knows it, which is why he quietly released the data online over the summer period."The August numbers are the first tranche to be released from the 2019/20 financial year.As well as showing the $103 million deficit, the numbers also show that the MoH expects the overall DHB deficit to be $534 million by June this year.At $23 million in the red, Canterbury DHB has the highest deficit, followed by Waikato with $15 million then Auckland at $10 million.South Canterbury, the only DHB with a surplus, was $1 million in the black.In the year to June 2019, DHBs reported an overall $1.1 billion deficit.The DHBs' financial performance came under intense scrutiny as the deficit deepened.Last year, the Herald revealed the Government was forced to pour extra emergency money into the DHBs after being warned hospital workers' pay could be affected without a bailout.Information, released under the Official Information Act, revealed the Government had spent and extra $368 million more than it had expected on topping up DHB funding.In December last year, the Government revealed it had enlisted the aid of former Ministers, chief executives, top-ranking officials and mayors to help get the country's embattled DHBs back on a firmer financial footing.Former Finance Minister, and Tax Working Group chairman Sir Michael Cullen, was among 76 new District Health Board (DHB) chairpersons or board members.

A look back at the big tax stories of 2019 The Tax Working Group report and capital gains tax Inland Revenue's business transformation OECD's international tax proposals

The Week in Tax 22 November 2019 More on Inland Revenue CRS initiative The future of tax Why did the Tax Working Group's CGT proposal fail?

This week I'm joined by Geof Nightingale of PWC and we discuss: The Tax Working Group How the Budget surplus could be used to improve taxes for middle income earners The pros and cons of a Digital Services Tax and The OECD's recently announced international tax proposals

This week Inland Revenue issues consultation on habitual buying and selling of land Two Tax Working Group recommendations on feasibility expenditure and shareholder continuity approved Inland Revenue issues Automatic Exchange of Information letters

Tax. The dirtiest three letter word in the world. We all hate tax. State sanctioned theft. Our hard earned money taken by governments because they believe they know better how to spend it than we do.And the worst thing about tax is that they take it from us working folk and then give it to lazy, dumb, selfish people who are too lazy to work. Dole bludgers, slackers and solo mothers.Well that's the line many spin and they spin it on talkback and in opinion pieces and on the political hustings.And then there's reality.According to just released information compiled from the Household Economic Survey 29 per cent of households receive Government benefits and transfers, excluding superannuation. Nearly a third of the nation are beneficiaries.More than 42 per cent of those earning less than $20,000 a year receive Government money. Well I guess that makes sense because try and survive on $20,000 a year even if you are single.But then we get these factoids.Nearly 20 per cent of households earning more than $150,991 get benefits. 24 per cent of those earning between $100,001 and $150,000 get benefits.The Tax Working Group found the same thing. The top three household income bands had 11 per cent of the Government benefits. The very wealthiest income band had 3 per cent.It looks like we're a nation where dole bludging and being a beneficiary is a national sport. You could argue that the complaints from the well paid about our benefit addiction is a bit of double standards when you see how many well paid households are more than happy to pocket government handouts.Some will argue that if government money is available then it's our responsibility to claw it back. The moral high ground unofficial tax rebate. But you could also argue that if you didn't claim the benefit  then we wouldn't need to be taxed so much in the first place.All this is a very simplified take on a complex issue. We have created a monster, particularly with Working For Families, that has enslaved us to governmental rebates. To unwind it all could be ruinous to our economy. And it's all funded through tax.And there's that word again. Tax. We just have to say it and we all get angry. But tax is how we fund stuff like roads and health and cops and all government.I had to laugh when I heard Simon Bridges calling Jacinda Ardern the fleecer in chief when it comes to petrol taxes because of course as Minister of Transport in the last government he was also a fleecer in chief. This government has introduced an Auckland petrol tax, sure, but the nationwide 3.5 cent increase was a scheduled increase to account for inflation.If Mr Bridges was PM that would have happened too. Fleecer. His party also took half the money we pay for petrol. Fleecers. If they didn't they'd have to introduce road user charges or tolls because who do you think pays for the roads you drive your cars on?It's great dog whistle politics because we hate tax. But it's double standards. Simon Bridges is just the same as Jacinda Ardern when it comes to fleecing us. And an awful lot us are just they same as any other beneficiary we sneer at.

ASB's Jonathan Beale and Chris Tennent-Brown outline the Tax Working Group's recommendations to the government and discuss how these changes could affect ASB investors.

Andrea Black supported the Tax Working Group for the past 17 months. She discusses whether Inland Revenue is under-resourced and whether it was worth it. Full transcript https://baucher.tax/andrea-black-and-the-tax-working-group/

Amanda Martin is a Tax Principal at tax specialist firm, nsaTax Limited. Amanda advises on a wide range of taxation law and provides practical and plain English solutions for her clients. Amanda has a particular interest in the taxation of land and the recent legislative reforms to the taxation of residential land. Amanda has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws and is a CA member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand with over 20 years’ tax advisory experience. Capital Gains Tax. As our country matures, is it time to not only tax the fruit of our labour and the leaves but now the tree itself? Please take the time to read the actual report and form your own opinions - https://taxworkinggroup.govt.nz/resources/future-tax-final-report 1 - What is 'Capital Gains Tax'. Simply put, it's taxing the tree. Currently in NZ you pay tax on income derived from physical exertion (labour) ie the fruit, you pay tax on earnings that come from capital (leaves), but you do not normally pay tax on the tree itself (the increase in the value of the capital itself). Under the proposed legislation the gain in the value of your capital whether held in property or shares (in Australasia) would be payable in addition to the income tax you paid in order to acquire that asset (as well as the dividend, interest or rental income also received.) a - Bright Line Test. Extended from 2 years to 5 years around this time last year, the gains made on residential property (outside of the primary residence) is already going to be taxed at your marginal tax rate. The proposed CGT may render this rule redundant. b- Ring-fencing of tax losses. This rule change is almost guaranteed to go through with an effective date being 1/4/19. If you make a 'loss' on a rental property traditionally you've been able to offset that against your personal income tax liability. These losses will soon be 'contained' and whilst it may offset future taxable income there may soon be no immediate tax relief that we currently enjoy. In an episode with accountant Karl Moreton, we delve deeper into these two issues separately (check it out) 2 - What's the likelihood that the proposed CGT will go ahead as proposed? Well, most would suggest it's a certainty that it will only proceed after some fine-tuning. Originally it was discussed the changes in tax around capital gains would be tax neutral, having the effect of redistributing wealth from the 'haves' to the 'have-nots'. This is where politics and the safety net of our democratic system come into play - assuming most Kiwi's understand the impact of the proposed CGT and express their opinion not just on facebook but at the polls - ultimately what's best for NZ is what the majority think it should be...right? 3 - How will the proposed tax changes affect the NZ Everyday Investor? This will impact every Kiwi - for richer or for poorer. Hopefully out of this there's going to be some healthy debate around the following questions: Will this be perceived to be 'punishing' those who take a risk, innovate, build wealth and employ Kiwi's? Even if it's not punitive, will it be perceived like that? Will the 'middle' or those aspiring to build wealth, pay the bulk of the cost for the upper 1% who will likely find ways still to avoid paying this tax? Will those with wealth move to another country? Will this remedy in any part the housing crisis? Some would suggest that the value of lower-priced homes (typically homes that are acquired by property investors) will fall at a greater rate relative to larger owner-occupied style homes (the 'mansion effect') Fair Dividend Rate (FDR) taxation rules applied to overseas shares will be more appealing now in light of a new CGT on the gains on shares held in Australia and NZ. Is this something that the NZX really needs right now and if seeking capital, would a startup or SME be able to resist a growing temptation to move off-shore? Covering a topic like Capital Gains Tax can be challenging to say the least - inevitably it gets clouded by our own political bias and pre-conceived notions around equality. To ensure a rational debate here we really should be looking primarily at the problem that the CGT attempts to solve, then after that ask this very important question - is this going to be an effective tool in solving that problem? NZ Everyday Investor Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/NZ-Everyday-Investor-338969376637717/ We’re keeping it real on NZ Everyday investor – we’re not journalists and this isn’t an interview – it’s a discussion, hosted by someone who’s genuinely into this sort of thing. If you like what we do, remember to subscribe to our show and share it with others – we’d really appreciate it! Do you know what else would make us rather pleased with ourselves? Write a review on facebook too! Where to find Darcy Ungaro: Ungaro &Co (registered) financial advisers https://www.ungaro.co.nz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UFinServ/?ref=bookmarks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ungaro.co.nz/ Help support the mission of our show on Patreon by contributing here: NZ Everyday Investor is on a mission to increase financial literacy and make investing more accessible for the everyday person!

National Party leader Simon Bridges says the capital gains tax is an "incredibly bad idea" which could damage New Zealand businesses.The Tax Working Group has recommended a capital gains tax on investment property, shares, farming and other businesses at the taxpayer's highest income tax rate.Exemptions would apply to the family home and personal goods such as art and jewellery and vintage cars.Speaking with Kate Hawkesby, Bridges said this is something that Kiwis feel strongly about."The valuation that everyone will need so they can work out how much gain there has been.""Take business this will potentially cost them, well I said $10,000, [but] I think in some cases it would be much more than that. That is a half a billion dollar cost across our economy that business often don't have. It is yet one more reason why this is a bad idea."When asked about the Serious Fraud Office investigation, which was announced yesterday, Bridges said it won't get in the way of his campaign against the proposed CGT."I don't want to say too much about that because it's the SFO. I just want to say two things, firstly, this is for the National Party [and] you may say, well I'm the leader but...if you take me personally the SFO hasn't talked to me, there's no chance of any issues. I don't solicit, arrange or have anything to do with the logistics of donations, so there is nothing here."Police yesterday said they had referred the handling of a political donation to the SFO, based on a complaint made by former National MP Jami-Lee Ross.While Bridges said his hands are clean, he wouldn't confirm that he would resign "if an arrest occurred".Instead, he said there won't be an arrest and any issues are for the National Party to deal with.When asked whether he would use the waka-jumping law and ditch Jami-Lee Ross, the National Party leader said, "no"."No one is interested in him...they are just not interested in him. I am going to talk today to several hundred people and I doubt they will raise him."Bridges then turned his attention back to the capital gains tax, saying it is something that every Kiwi is exercised by.

National is accusing the Government of wasting taxpayers' money on using Tax Working Group chairman Sir Michael Cullen as a "hired gun," after his contract was extended.But Cullen – who was also once a Labour Party Finance Minister – rubbished the claim and said he was only staying on to "defend the integrity of the report".Speaking on The Weekend Collective, Cullen said he although people may assume he is biased towards the Labour Party, he is solely focused on the tax working group."My job is to defend the integrity of the process and the recommendation and facts which it is based. That is what I am being paid to do."LISTEN ABOVE AS SIR MICHAEL CULLEN SPEAKS TO THE WEEKEND COLLECTIVE

Well, I have really, really, really tried but I have failed. The same way I failed last year’s Dry July. I had the best intentions but it’s just too tempting. Or maybe I’m too addicted. Or maybe it’s too infuriating.I honestly thought I might get through this week without discussing the recent findings of the Tax Working Group. I imagined and visualised never uttering the words “Capital Gains Tax”. But I have now fallen.I was tempted to talk about it after Jacinda Ardern got stuck into the people who write columns in the Herald. People like me. The inference being that we were all ganging up against the CGT. That the proposals were slowly being picked apart like pulling at a loose thread on a jumper. The tax was dying a death of a thousand cuts. And that was unfair. And of course, this whole thing is about fairness.I took exception to that because what she was really complaining about is that nobody was coming out in favour of the tax. Apart from a few people writing emotional pleas about fairness and how it just feels right.Ask yourself. Who have you seen crusading for the biggest shakeup of our economy in a generation? Where are the crowds marching in the street? How many water cooler conversations have you had about the taxes? The only ones I’ve had is about how we could avoid paying any. Perhaps on factory floors and minimum wage sweatshops, there are mobs of supporters, but I haven’t seen any evidence of that.What the Prime Minister is really upset about is the Working Group’s ideas do not have a champion.Which brings me to why I’ve broken my silence.This week the government extended Sir Michael Cullen’s contract as Chairman of the Tax Working Group so he can defend the ideas his group presented to the Government. That’s a sweet gig. A grand a day to phone talkback stations or write letters to the editor to dispel any scaremongering that may or may not be going on.I’m afraid this is just not right. Sir Michael was paid to collate expert advice, which he’s done. Job over. His ideas need to defend themselves. If he wants to defend them now the job’s finished he can do it on his own coin.Then we come to David Seymour’s criticism today that this demonstrates the inability of Finance Minister Grant Robertson to articulate and defend his Government’s tax plan.That’s not strictly true because the Tax Working Group’s plan is not yet the government’s plan. They’ll tell us what their plan is next month. And that’s their political failure. To be honest they’ve lost this already. By failing to come out immediately and say what they like and don’t like about the groups that plan the government is just sitting there like a big lump, saying nothing and getting kicked. If I was a supporter of the Capital Gains Tax, I would very angry at the government right now.What all this is really saying is that the supporters of the Capital Gains Tax are so few and far between that this government is now paying people to support it and that just sounds a teensy bit corrupt.

There has been an overload of opinions about capital gains tax in the media lately from economists, lobbyists, politicians and business people who are part of the story. But plenty of the broadcasters who interview them on our behalf for the media have laid their reckons on us too.

There has been an overload of opinions about capital gains tax in the media lately from economists, lobbyists, politicians and business people who are part of the story. But plenty of the broadcasters who interview them on our behalf for the media have laid their reckons on us too.

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the good and bad of a capital gains tax on your KiwiSaver. Hosted by Frances Cook.If you heard howls of outrage and a collective stamping of feet coming from your computer last week, it's not a technical glitch. You were probably logged in to social media as the announcement was made that the Tax Working Group recommended the Government bring in a capital gains tax. Basically if you buy something, it increases in value, and then you sell it for a profit, you pay tax on part of that profit. What that means for property investors has been truly thrashed already, and it's safe to say many of them have made it known that they don't like the idea. But there were other parts of the report that have been missed, that are very important for the average New Zealander to know about. For instance, proposed changes to how you KiwiSaver is taxed. Almost all of us have a KiwiSaver fund, certainly more of us than have an investment property, and yet that's barely rated a mention so far. There are also questions about how it would impact shares investments outside of KiwiSaver.So I talked to Herald business editor at large Liam Dann about the details of the report. We discussed who can expect a bigger KiwiSaver and whose might get smaller, the impact on the sharemarket more generally, and how the politics might change which parts of this become reality. For the interview, listen to the podcast. If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's the good and bad of a capital gains tax on your KiwiSaver. Hosted by Frances Cook.If you heard howls of outrage and a collective stamping of feet coming from your computer last week, it's not a technical glitch. You were probably logged in to social media as the announcement was made that the Tax Working Group recommended the Government bring in a capital gains tax. Basically if you buy something, it increases in value, and then you sell it for a profit, you pay tax on part of that profit. What that means for property investors has been truly thrashed already, and it's safe to say many of them have made it known that they don't like the idea. But there were other parts of the report that have been missed, that are very important for the average New Zealander to know about. For instance, proposed changes to how you KiwiSaver is taxed. Almost all of us have a KiwiSaver fund, certainly more of us than have an investment property, and yet that's barely rated a mention so far. There are also questions about how it would impact shares investments outside of KiwiSaver.So I talked to Herald business editor at large Liam Dann about the details of the report. We discussed who can expect a bigger KiwiSaver and whose might get smaller, the impact on the sharemarket more generally, and how the politics might change which parts of this become reality. For the interview, listen to the podcast. If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook

Housing Minister Phil Twfyord is remaining coy on how Government changes to rental properties will affect rents.This morning,Twyford unveiled new requirements for landlords as part of the Government's new healthy homes standards, which will come into effect between 2021 and 2024.These include requiring all rental properties to have a heater in the main living room, as well as making sure kitchens and bathrooms have extraction fans.But the most expensive requirement for landlords, according to the New Zealand Property Investors' Federation (NZPI), would be the new requirements around insulation.The new rules will require the minimum level of ceiling and underfloor insulation to either meet the 2008 Building Code, or – for existing ceiling insulation – have a minimum thickness of 120mm.The National Party and a property lobby groups say the cost of the Government's new rental minimum standards will be borne by renters in the form of increased rents.Twyford told The Weekend Collective that these changes would cost approximately $7,000 for landlords to bring a three bedroom home to standard, but he believes only a small majority will be affected.“Half the rental properties out there have extractor fans. Two thirds have a fixed heating source. We’re really talking about bringing the bottom end of the market up to where everyone else is and setting a minimum standard.”He says that Housing New Zealand has 68,000 properties, and they will need to spend over $200 million, which will come off their balance books.“We’ve set three years from now, basically, they have to have all their houses being compliant.”NZPIR executive officer Andrew King said more than 90 per cent of the landlords represented by his group have already insulated their properties."A large proportion of those are going to now have to turn around and top it up to meet these new requirements."He said the cost of bringing the level of insulation up to the new required level would cost roughly $1500-$2000 per home.The insulation material itself does not cost a lot, he said, but the cost of the labour will be high."It costs just as much to top up insulation as it does to install it."He said this cost – and the cost of complying with the rest of the new standards – would be passed on to the tenants, in the form of higher rent.Meanwhile, he said just adding more insulation would not even have a major effect on keeping homes warm, if the home is already insulated.National's housing spokeswoman Judith Collins agreed.She said rents have increased in many parts of the country over the past year and the Government's new rules would see rents climb even further."There will be some landlords who are going to say 'it's just not worth it for me to retrofit this property'."Instead of renting the property, Collins said many would-be landlords would just sell it on the open market.Speaking at the unveiling of the new standards this morning, Lynley Thomas, a property owner and landlord, said although she would not increase her tenants' rents, there would likely be a flow-on effect whereby the costs could flow on to the tenant in the wider market."Indirectly, through a market rent raise which I think will inevitably happen, that's where the rent will go up."There were already concerns over rising rents after the prospect of a Capital Gains Tax was raised by the Tax Working Group.When that was put to him by the Weekend Collective, Twyford did confirm or deny that rents would rise.He says that we have to do a lot to get the housing market back on track and bring it into the 21st century.“We can’t wait around for the ideal moment of history to improve the quality of housing.” Twyford says that when it comes to Capital Gains Tax, there’s no evidence from overseas countries that a tax would force rents up.

The Tax Working Group's recommendation that a capital gains tax should be introduced on a range of assets, including rental properties, has prompted outrage from many investors.While the TWG believes that, on balance, a capital gains tax will lead to "some small upward pressure on rents and downward pressure on house prices”, investors have a different view.Leonie Freeman, CEO of the Property Council joined The One Roof Radio Show on The Weekend Collective to break down the important points of the proposal and explain what they could mean if you are selling your houseLISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVE

The Tax Working Group has recommended the Government implement a capital gains tax - and use the money gained to lower the personal tax rate.The suggested capital gains tax (CGT) would cover assets such as land, shares, investment properties, business assets and intellectual property.Any profit on the sale of these assets would be added to the seller's overall yearly income, and then be taxed under existing thresholds. Other personal assets – such as the family home, cars, boats and art – would be exempt from a CGT.And in other housing news, new figures show Auckland's first-home buyers need to fork out up to $950 in weekly mortgage repayments for the next 30 years, based on what they're paying to get a foothold in the market.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The possibility of a water tax is concerning those with irrigation systems.The Tax Working Group recommends a tax on water in its final capital gains tax proposal report.Irrigation New Zealand chairperson Nicky Hyslop told Tim Wilson there are already lots of pressure on irrigators to be efficient with water."It costs a lot to turn on an irrigator in terms of electricity, water charges and labour."Hyslop said there are also huge amounts of nutrient limits and regulation, which also impacts irrigation efficiency.She said if these proposals are picked up, food producers in New Zealand's dry regions would be targeted."It doesn't make sense that areas like Hawke's Bay, Canterbury. Otago which have huge areas of irrigation, will be taxed the hardest."

New Zealand could end up with the harshest capital gains tax in the world if the Tax Working Group's recommendations are adopted.Its final report recommends the Government introduce the tax - including gains from land, shares, business assets and residential rentals.Rodway Staples tax director Andrew Dickeson told Tim Wilson there would be no indexation for inflation."There are very limited ways to basically sidestep the regime, so it does seem very, very harsh.""There wouldn't be a start date when assets that you previously held wouldn't be in the net, so everything is coming in."However, he said he doubts this will be the tax's final form."This paper has almost been prepared for someone to come through and be the good guy.""There are just all of these opportunities for someone to go to the public and announce that they are going to make changes to make it more pragmatic, make it more competitive...all those buzzwords that they know the electorate are going to want to hear," he said.When asked whether New Zealand actually needs a capital gains tax, Dickeson said, "I don't think the average mum and dad needs it"."New Zealanders are not highly paid by overseas standards...so the one way that mum and dad could save for their retirement was to create a nest egg and that would typically be around a rental property.""They could put some money away, pay that off over time, use their salary to basically pay the bills and get by, but they would know that when they turned 65 there was something there that they could sell [which] would fund their retirement."

The most amazing thing about this Tax Working Group report is just how much people want to talk about it. And that’s a good thing because the more we talk about things the more we can understand things and make the right decisions.Yesterday I opened the lines at one and then for three hours we have a never-ending stream of calls. I tried to change the subject to talk about zoos. But you wouldn’t have a bar of it.So imagine my surprise this morning as I was walking my dog that person after person came up to me and started talking tax. Do I look like an accountant?One dog walker used a good word and I warned her I’d use it this afternoon. She said the real reason for the Tax Working Group is for conditioning. To raise the spectre of a big old hairy chested broad and comprehensive Capital Gains tax to scare the bejesus out of us so that come April when the government releases a scaled-down property capital gains tax we’d breathe a sigh of relief.It’s a theory favoured by many, particularly in the business world.Of course, a lot of the scrutiny now falls on Winston Peters, who has the ability to boycott any move towards a CGT.  Yesterday Winston got a bit of heat from the farming community after appearing on thecountry.co.nz and telling Rowena Duncum that Farmers would not be hit by a Capital Gains Tax. But then lo and behold out comes a tax on farms apart from the farmhouse and an acre around it.People said that Winston has been telling mistruths.Or maybe he isn’t.It could be that Rowena got herself a scoop and the first indication that NZ First is not going to let a wholesale tax reformation happen. Let’s wait and see. So let’s remind ourselves that we already have a capital gains tax with the bright line test for property investors.Let’s also remind ourselves that this is a suggestion from a group and not concrete government policy.Let’s also dismiss the idea that the government sent the group back after the interim report with a directive to include a capital gains tax. The interim report had a CGT but also an indication it was going to be hard. The only real difference is that for this report 3 members of the Group have said they’re not in support of a comprehensive CGT but they are in favour of a tax on investment property.So my call on the whole thing is that we are being conditioned. Brace yourself for a stronger brightline test. And don’t panic yet.Meanwhile on zoos.  I can’t see them existing in 25 years time. 

 Sir Michael Cullen's working group has today recommended a swathe of changes to New Zealand's tax system. Here they are in a nutshell:Capital gains tax (CGT) to apply after the sale of residential property, businesses, shares, all land and buildings except the family home, and intangibles such as intellectual property and goodwill.Tax rate to be set at the income-earner's top tax rate, likely to be 33 per cent for most.Calculation of gains to not to be retrospective - tax to be applied to gains made after April 2021.Art, boats, cars, bikes, jewellery, personal household items and the family home to be exempt.Losses on the sale of assets bought before April 2021 will generally be able to be used to reduce paid on gains from other assets.Increase the threshold of the lowest tax rate (10.5 per cent), allowing more income to be taxed at the lower rate.Increase social welfare net benefits to allow similar benefits as low-income earners post tax threshold adjustments.House on farms and surrounding land up to 4500 sq metres exempt from CGT, calculated as a percentage of total farm value.CGT on small businesses can be deferred (roll over relief) if annual turnover is less than $5 million and sale proceeds are reinvested in similar asset class.No support to make company tax progressive ie smaller companies paying less than 28 per cent.Capital gains tax estimated to raise $8.3 billion over five years.Expand coverage and rate of Waste Disposal Levy, expand the ETS and use congestion charging.Better tax benefits for Kiwsavers on low and middle incomes. 

Wage and salary earners paid out $1.7bn in what's been called "stealth" tax last year. According to advice to the Tax Working Group, it was after inflation increases pushed workers and their pay packets into higher tax brackets. Officials have warned the public could see the money as having come through a stealth tax and Government may want to change it as a "value judgement".They've also said if the Government did change tax rates, it would increase transparency and account for inflation but money would need to be found to pay for public services.The extra tax was scooped up after the former government left tax brackets largely unchanged during its time in office, with the highest tax bracket fixed to kick in at $70,000.Since 2008, inflation combined with pay rises has doubled the number of workers paying the full 33 per cent tax rate on earnings over $70,000. Those in the highest tax bracket increased in 10 years from 335,000 people to 665,000 people. In some countries, tax brackets are automatically tied to inflation, but in New Zealand they are not.Also today, disappointment from the CTV families on learning the building designer Alan Reay is appealing a court ruling, and new data suggesting NZ might not need to build as many houses as we thought.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Lynch was joined by National MP Nicky Wagner and Labour MP for Christchurch East Poto Williams to discuss what they'd like to see in the final report from the tax working group and if its a good idea or not to tax Lime scooters. 

A wealth tax, a tax on financial transactions, a broader capital gains tax, a land tax and new environmental taxes are all options to be considered by the Tax Working Group. However the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union says to consider the introduction of a wealth tax is a dangerous step.Chris Lynch spoke to Jordan Williams, Director of the New Zealand Tax Payers' Union, about why they think it's a step in the wrong direction.