Chris Hipkins and the Labour Party are planning to hit New Zealanders with more than just a Capital Gains Tax and are trying to mislead the public by suggesting otherwise, National's Campaign Chair Simeon Brown says.
"Labour cannot continue to claim that a Capital Gains Tax is its only new tax when it has already announced a policy to hike taxes on business owners by 20 per cent and is cooking up a Rentals Tax by removing interest deductibility.
"Chris Hipkins has form for misleading the public, and we saw the latest example just yesterday.
"National warned the public on Sunday that Labour was planning a new Streaming Tax, based on previous public statements by Labour MPs.
"Chris Hipkins denied this and called National 'hysterical'. But it turns out that at the same time, senior Labour MP Willie Jackson had a Members' Bill in the biscuit tin to introduce a Streaming Tax - a Bill that had been signed off by Hipkins himself.
"Hipkins only moved to pull the Bill yesterday after National exposed it, then tried to lie to the media that it had been pulled out 48 hours earlier. That's just not credible.
"In another attempt to mislead, Labour's Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds told media the same day that Labour would only campaign on a Capital Gains Tax.
"But Labour has already announced a new tax even bigger than the Capital Gains Tax. By scrapping Investment Boost, Labour would impose a 20 per cent Business Tax on business owners investing in new equipment.
"This Business Tax is worth $5 billion but still won't be enough to pay for Labour's $18 billion of spending promises.
"That means even more taxes are coming, and one of those is the Rentals Tax.
"Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori all want to remove interest deductibility on rentals, which will put a tax on renters.
"When Labour did this in Government, rents went up by around $180 a week. After National restored interest deductibility, rent increases fell to their lowest levels in two decades. That is not a coincidence.
"But Labour is again planning to remove interest deductibility if re-elected and therefore re-introduce its Rental Tax. That's because Labour is addicted to tax and desperately needs to find the money to pay for its $18 billion of spending promises.
"Conveniently for Labour, its prospective coalition partners in the Greens, Te Pati Maori and The Opportunity Party are also proposing a raft of new taxes.
"New Zealanders deserve straight answers from Labour about its tax plans, not continued attempts by Chris Hipkins to mislead them.
"The tax choice this election is clear. A National Government that believes Kiwis should keep more of what they earn, or a Labour-Greens-Te Pati Maori-TOP coalition that wants to impose 9 new taxes on hardworking New Zealanders."
