[QUOTE=Joshuatree;683573
Transparency plus
No death duties
No inheritance tax
No capital gains on the family property (land and home).
Speculators will pay tax on buying and selling houses,.
Foreigners won't be able to buy houses here like in many other countries to eliminate speculating there.[/QUOTE]
I have to ask a couple of questions -
First some context: NZ and China are in the process of 'upgrading' the FTA - the one that the Clark Administration and in particular Phil Goff worked hard at getting across the line.
The current FTA provides that Chinese Citizens could purchase land here. The current FTA also provides as many do for 'most favoured nation' status so it grandparents in that any subsequent FTAs that are more favourable get flipped into the NZ one.
The Australia and China FTA was recently signed and provides for a quicker removal of tariffs on Australian dairy products being exported to China than the current NZ one and as part of the 'upgrade' then NZ trade negotiators would be seeking to have those tariffs removed either immediately or at least as quickly as those on Australian products.
Given where we are in the FTA upgrade timeline where does pulling the pin on a key benefit for Chinese Citizens going to sit when we ask for a major tariff reduction acceleration?
Second Question: does anyone not see the major loophole with these three items - No inheritance tax
No death duties (estate duty)
No capital gains on the family property (land and home)?
Third question: Currently even if you are an owner occupier and have a frequent/regular pattern or intention to resale for a gain then you are potentially doing so in the course of business and then the gains are assessable - does this mean that the CGT provides for such transactions to create a tax rate arbitrage? If so that's potentially going to make it much harder to find cheaper properties.
Lastly define 'speculator' - is a farmer on a family block owned for generations next to the urban limit a speculator? If he or she isn't why not and think about how that applies to almost anyone who owns a home and intends to use it to partly fund or wholly fund their retirement?