Letters: Now that house prices have fallen, what does that mean for the capital gains tax debate?

A capital gains tax would be distortionary and discourage investment in New Zealand, writes one reader. Photo / Fiona Goodall

Letters to the Editor

US alliance and peace

New Zealand has been nominated as the safest country in the world in case of a global conflict.

Part of that finding is our lack of military alliances. Switzerland was among the top three safest countries, also sticking strictly to its commitment to avoid such alliances. We know that America tends to be involved in many wars and an alliance with the US would no doubt increase our risk of becoming involved, as demonstrated by recent history.

Not only are we risking being called into conflict, we also risk becoming a target for any US adversary in case of war. New Zealand is a gem with its position far away from almost everything and we bear a responsibility to do what we can to make our country and other Pacific Island nations remain outside the realm of conflict between major nations or group of nations.

Frank Olsson, Freemans Bay.

House prices and capital gains

Now that house prices have fallen a lot and are predicted to increase at a much slower rate over the next decade, landlords will not be able to rely so much on capital gains to compensate for low net after-tax rental income. Nor could Revenue Ministers expect much, or at times any, capital gains tax income.

Once the market recovers, the capital gain would briefly be higher than normal due to recovery from the lows, so temporarily exaggerating a capital gains tax’s impact. This would be typical of all economic cycles occurring roughly each decade.

Would capital losses due to routine market declines be carried forward as losses into future years of gains to smooth with reality?

This is just one of many complexities of a capital gains tax which would be distortionary, discourage investment in New Zealand and produce erratic and unreliable government revenue just when it’s needed – during recessions.

Rod McIntyre, St Heliers.

Buddhist statue

Your recent coverage of the 16.5m Buddhist statue controversy contained an intriguing comment from council planner James Hassall. He noted that while the statue is currently permitted as “artwork”, it would likely need resource consent if it became a place of religious worship.

Perhaps the solution lies in the residents’ own hands. If the horrified locals were to genuinely embrace Buddhism and start using the statue as a shrine, complete with regular worship and meditation sessions, it might trigger the very planning requirements that could see it removed.

James Gregory, Parnell.

Need for speed?

Christopher Luxon’s delusionary world is no better exemplified than by his dream of being Liam Lawson racing down the new Pūhoi-Warkworth motorway with hair flowing in the wind – when of course he has no hair (July 1).

In the real world, such a high speed makes a crash more likely because drivers have less time to react and it requires a longer distance to slow. Speed was a factor in 29% of all road deaths in New Zealand in 2023. Globally, it is much higher at 54% and is why there is a worldwide movement to bring speed limits down.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Helipads fine for billionaires

How is it that in the face of overwhelming submissions against that helicopter operations are now going to be allowed from a luxury residence at Westmere?

Interestingly, Sydney and Melbourne don’t allow it, yet we do. And if it was to become the norm then next they’ll need an air traffic management system in the area.

There is a commercial helipad only 15 minutes’ drive away – so what is wrong with using that? Surely, it’s only been allowed as the result of money and influence?

Paul Beck, West Harbour.

Post-truth society

Given the tremendous changes that are happening in the USA, especially with regards to vaccinations, I thought it worthwhile to consult my guru, chatGPT, to ask how resulting pandemics would be reacted to by the voting public.

Sadly, it predicted that given the demise of print media and the rise of chatbots and a manipulated internet, a disinformed public would be unaware of what was going on. A frightening future.

Neville Cameron, Coromandel.

Cartoon

Daron Parton’s cartoon of the flight attendant in their wet-weather get-up welcoming visitors to New Zealand was priceless (July 1). Thank you.

Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.