Capital Gains Tax

[Aaron]

Q - tax capital gains on an accural or realised basis.

The problem with CGT on an accrual basis is there is no cashflow to pay the tax.
The problem with CGT on a realised basis is there is no tax generation for a number of years.

Q - Do you include the family home?

Q - Do you include roll over releif?

If not, if you sell something, you cant afford to buy the same item back again, influencing decisions.

I think there was a good paper by the tax working group. See if you can find it. I am not saying you are wrong, just making sure you are fully informed.
If so, it defers the tax revenue even further

You would pay it on a realised basis.
Family home can be exempt.
No roll over relief
Don't sell if you want to buy back straight away.
Also incurred when making gifts of capital assets on a market value basis seeing as gift duty is about to be scrapped it wouuld be a good replacement.
Lou points out that people hold onto assets longer. Long term investors can therefore defer their taxes whereas traders/speculators can't.
We do have a land tax called "rates" farmers end up paying more than their fair share.

No way should we have just a consumption tax. Taxing consumption isn't a bad idea but GST is a regressive tax so 15% is a much as I would like to see.

[lou]

We do have a land tax called "rates" farmers end up paying more than their fair share.

Farmers do not pay there fair share of taxes.
1. Farmers have loads of deductions, heaps of cracks to slip personal expenditure into the books.
2. Heaps of potential for income to disappear on to the kitchen table.
3. Then the fact that a farmer will sit on bugger all "taxable income" for his life time. Using the increase in farm technology/efficiency, that increase the value of his land that is leveraged to the hilt. He then retires to Whangamata on huge capital nest egg tax free.
4. The return on assets in the farm industry is lower than the cost of debt. This does not make economic sense why would they be doing it. Unless they doing it for capital income or other kickbacks.