What Would a Capital Gains Tax in New Zealand Look Like?
7 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2019
Date Written: March 7, 2019
Abstract
New Zealand currently charges some classes of capital gains to income tax, but there is no tax on capital gains as such. The Tax Working Group recently established by the government has however recommended that there should be such a tax. That is, it has recommended that New Zealand should, like almost all other developed countries, introduce a capital gains tax (CGT). It appears probable, therefore, that, if the next election produces another Labour-led government, it will introduce such a tax. Whether that would be a good idea is debatable, but this article does not attempt to answer that question. Rather, it seeks to explain what, if it were to happen, a CGT would look like, and what it should look like.
Keywords: capital gains tax, New Zealand, tax, tax working group
JEL Classification: H2, H3, K34,
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation