Quote Originally Posted by iceman View Post
We are the only country in the OECD that does not have a formal CGT although we have the Brightline tax which of course is CGT in disguise. Most of other OECD have a CGT with many exemptions and lower rates than normal income tax. But it has not stopped them from having exactly the same issues as NZ with run away house prices and high rents. The idea that CGT will be a guarantee to lower house prices and lower rent is simply not supported by any evidence
yep there are ways in which capital gains are already captured. Brightline is one such way if you buy and sell within five years.

Of course a cgt will not guarantee affordable housing especially since the family home did not form part of the review and NZ does not have the stamp duties that other countries have.

NZ has amongst the most unaffordable housing in The OECD with residential property comprising a very large share of household wealth. So I would think it would make sense to try to encourage the diversification of household wealth away from residential housing. As a Sharetrader poster, It would be nice if NZ shares featured more prominently as household investment and helped stop the exodus of NZ listings...

However the point I was responding to was that “Labour clearly do not want people to own their own homes”. I have yet to know why that accusation was made.

Of course the same wild accusation could have been made of previous governments that allowed the housing shortage to get out of hand and sat on their hands as home ownership rates dropped and unaffordability climbed.