‘No’ to capital gains tax still possible, says Ardern

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there will be plenty of time for consultation on the Tax Working Group’s report, but it’s still possible the Government will reject a recommendation for a capital gains tax.

In her first economic outlook speech of the year, Ardern spoke about reasons for optimism in the economy – but acknowledged there were clouds ahead, to a room full of top chief executives and managers.

The Government received the Tax Working Group’s report on the contentious capital gains tax late last month and will release it to the public on February 21.

While Ardern said there would be ‘‘plenty of time for consultation, debate and lots of transparency’’ on the report’s findings, she did not rule out not adopting a capital gains tax policy at all.

‘‘What the Tax Working Group has worked on we will be releasing to the public. Everyone will be able to see those ideas and debate them.

‘‘There will be plenty of time for consultation and debate and lots of transparency.’’

One certainty was that, if a capital gains tax was implemented, the family home would be off the table.

‘‘When we went into setting up the Tax Working Group, we were very specific: Don’t even bother considering the family home. It’s off the table,’’ Ardern said.