Ok time to get political again sry. Havent got enough time on this planet left to waste on watching political debates but saw the news this morning and it was just stupid and no one did their homework. There was a huge hooha about John Key stumping Cunliffe over a question on capital gains tax in trusts. First of all this is a silly and minor distraction which means nothing, even I could have answered the question. But Key asked, if you own/(have?) a house in a family trust will it attract capital gains tax? as if this was a brilliantly insightful question. The fact is it was probably one of the stupidest questions I have heard because its physically bloody impossible to own a house in a family trust. The very reason the house is in a trust in the first place is so you can divorce yourself of ownership in it. The fact that this stumped Cunliffe was even stupider though, let alone the fact that he hadnt picked up on that basic fact he had the opportunity to seriously turn the tables right there. You dont write policy on capital gains tax from scratch and its not unique. You follow guidelines and plagiarise legislation from established law in other countries with a few tweaks to localise it. Foundation legislation on private property capital gains almost universally excludes primary owner occupied dwelling. The fact that Cunliffe couldnt immediately come back with that answer is damning on him but the whole question was a storm in a tea cup and Key needs to get better advisors if he is going to take Labours platform apart.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 20:35:36 +0000
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