Labour’s promises suddenly even harder to explain
Chris Hipkins’ flip-flop on interest deductibility has left an even bigger hole in Labour’s economic credibility and raises fresh questions about what additional taxes Labour is planning to pay for its $18 billion hidden bill, National Campaign Chair Simeon Brown says.
“This is rank hypocrisy from Labour. After three years of attacking ‘tax cuts for landlords’ and blaming them for the cost-of-living crisis, Chris Hipkins has performed an eleventh-hour u-turn and decided to keep the very policy Labour has spent years condemning.
“While this is welcome news for renters who were concerned about upward pressure on rents, it raises serious questions about what other taxes Labour is planning.
“Chris Hipkins has a major problem. Labour needs to find $18 billion for its hidden bill, and he has just taken billions of dollars in additional revenue off the table.
“The maths was already murky. Now it’s written in hieroglyphics.
“Labour has spent years condemning the restoration of interest deductibility. Until very recently, its MPs were saying outright that they intended to reverse it. Now, seemingly on the fly, Chris Hipkins has overruled that position.
“Taking another tax increase off the table only makes the obvious question more pressing - where is the money coming from?
“Either Labour is going to abandon billions of dollars of promises, increase existing taxes, or Chris Hipkins still isn’t telling New Zealanders about all the new taxes he intends to impose.
“There are currently at least nine new taxes on the table across Labour and their mates, and New Zealanders deserve to know which ones Chris Hipkins is planning to use to fill the hole.
“If Chris Hipkins can change his position on a policy he has attacked for three years, why should anyone believe him when he says there are no more taxes coming?
“Labour did not campaign on removing interest deductibility in 2020 but did it anyway the very next year. They also explicitly ruled out changes to the bright line test before that same election, only to also break that promise the very next year.
“You simply cannot trust Labour on tax.”
