An Interview with Labour Leader Chris Hipkins

In an in-depth interview, Labour leader Chris Hipkins discusses Labour's tax policy, Māori housing inequity, the cost of living, and the climate crisis.Watch the video version of the episode here.Labour leader Chris Hipkins believes there are better ways to bring down the cost of housing, electricity and groceries than new taxes. But in at least three of those areas - electricity, banking and groceries - a third-term Labour-led government would not rule out taxes on excessive profits, should other measures fail to rein them in. "Tax is not the only way you can tackle inequality," Hipkins - whose grasp on the prime ministership is looking shakier with every poll - told Mata this week. "The policies that we are introducing and implementing as a government are actually I think making a meaningful difference on inequality."An IRD document released in April, the High-Wealth Individuals Research Project Report, found the wealthiest New Zealanders pay an effective tax rate about half that the rest of us do, largely through untaxed capital gains.Despite this, support for the idea from his former revenue minister and it being a key plank of likely coalition partner the Greens' platform, Hipkins has ruled out implementing any kind of wealth tax, should Labour lead the next government.He has also ruled out a comprehensive capital gains tax, despite the recommendation from the Tax Working Group to target capital gains to ease the burden placed on wage and salary earners.HousingCurrently, the bright-line test means residential property - aside from the family home in most instances, and a few other situations - attracts a capital gains tax if it is sold sooner than 10 years after purchase. National wants to lower this to two years.Hipkins said other suggestions - such as a land tax, as proposed by The Opportunities Party - were not on the table. "It's not something we're looking at at the moment," Hipkins told Mata host Mihingarangi Forbes."The main form of land tax we have at the moment is local government rates, which are levied on a combination of land and asset value - whatever sits on top of that land - so we already have that at the moment. We're not proposing to expand that further. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details