What evidence do you have that National don't like KiwiSaver?
On your other point, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Labour that allowed KiwiSaver retirement funds to be used to purchase residential housing?
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National voted against the KiwiSaver Bill. Then Key claimed they did not support because it had few incentives. Yet when in power he actually reduced the $1000 joining incentive plus reduced the annual credit by half! Now they want it to be used to fund the business start-ups of those who become unemployed.
The First home Withdrawal (which incidentally I disagree with) is allowed to purchase an owner-occupied first home - it is not to buy investor residential housing in addition to any owner-occupied main dwelling. That investor housing seems to be the National Party preferred pension scheme for those who can afford it.
However both labour and national have done little to reduce the comparative appeal of residential real estate as pension scheme - although National even less than Labour.
National weren't opposing KiwiSaver, they were voting against the reform package as it stood. Reducing government subsidies was also what Cullen proposed.
The Kiwi way of saving for retirement is to purchase a family home to do up, flick then repeat. Our neighbours are doing just that right now, and this is their 5th home in 9 or so years. They used Kiwisaver to buy their first investment home. Using the fund to start a business, given the current circumstances, does not challenge the precedent already set.
For the record, I too disagree with using Kiwisaver for both of these purpose.
No the kiwi way was to buy a home after marriage, do it up, make it home for the family to grow up in. Then maybe for those who could afford they would buy a rental. However I agree that many do now flip homes every few years as they get the best leveraged returns - largely untaxed apart from needing to pay rates. So yep over capitalising the family home becomes the pension scheme. Consequently the family home (increasingly affordable by only a minority) amd investor residential property should have the same burden of tax as a percentage of gains as KiwiSaver. Home ownership is being subsidised by other tax payers.
I think the key word in this is "was". Certainly for my generation and those subsequent, the road to riches is to buy a house, do it up, flick it on. Only a very few of my peers are into purchasing property to turn into residential rentals, which I can completely understand.
From what you've written I assume you'd advocate for a CGT (or something similar, if implemented) to apply to the family home?
Yep. Along with taxable Imputed net rent - in conjunction with a decent CGT threshold and income tax Threshold before tax would be levied. However that would not be possible politically at this stage. So instead, I would advocate that KiwiSaver should at least receive the same tax leniency as owner-occupied housing.
Labour support drops in August but still maintains huge lead of 19.5% over National
https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8...0-202008310343
Must be another rouge poll no doubt .....
A veteran red-zone activist says if the government overseeing Christchurch’s quake response was managing the coronavirus pandemic “we’d have … 3000 or 4000 elderly folk dead”.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/ne...o-transparency
This is the city that Gerry tried to build.