History shows Labour’s CGT won’t stop here
With more than $18 billion in spending still unexplained, Labour’s Capital Gains Tax will immediately expand to hit more Kiwis, National’s Campaign Chair Simeon Brown says.
“History tells us one very simple thing about capital gains taxes - they grow.
“Once Labour gets one, the tax net gets wider and wider. Not decades from now. Not even in five years’ time. But in May 2027.
“Because that’s when Chris Hipkins would have to deliver his first Budget and confront the staggering gap between Labour’s $18 billion of promises and what it has actually set aside to pay for them.
“Labour has form in adding new taxes after an election, even after 2020 where they held an historic majority, they increased or introduced three taxes they had either entirely ruled out during the campaign or not campaigned on at all.
“At the Better Taxes Election Forum debate last week, Labour’s Revenue spokesperson Deborah Russell was asked if she wanted to see the Capital Gains Tax expand and failed to rule it out, instead saying not ‘at this stage’.
“When the books get tight, Labour will do what Labour always does and widen the tax net. Its Capital Gains Tax will get bigger and bigger, just as it has overseas.
“Australia’s Labor Party has kept coming back for more from its Capital Gains Tax. In 2012, it removed the 50 per cent discount for some investors. In 2019, it campaigned on taxing gains harder. Labor went into the 2025 election promising no changes to capital gains tax, ruling it out ‘for the 50th time’ in its leader’s own words. Barely a year later, Labor went further, scrapping the discount for all investors and bringing in a 30 per cent minimum tax. From next July, it will even tax gains on assets bought before 1985, which were originally exempt entirely.
“It’s a similar story in the United Kingdom where, within four months of taking office, the current Labour government had put the rates up, and it has since almost doubled the rate paid by people selling their own business, from 10 to 18 per cent.
“In both countries, the tax started with a list of exemptions, and that list has only got shorter. Australia and the UK took years to get there, but Chris Hipkins doesn’t have years. He has $18 billion in unfunded promises to pay for immediately.
“That means every exemption Labour promises today is at risk tomorrow. Your family home is at risk from day one under a Labour coalition.
“That is the reality of a Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori, Opportunity Government. A Capital Gains Tax that grows, a wealth tax firmly on the table, and $18 billion of spending giving them every excuse to reach deeper and deeper into Kiwis’ pockets.
“This election will be close and New Zealanders have a clear choice. National will introduce no new taxes, reduce debt and get the books back to surplus.
“Or New Zealand can get a coalition of chaos that will squeeze hard-working Kiwis with nine new taxes, costing Kiwis $2,263 in additional tax every year.”
