Chester Borrows: Capital gains tax would cost Labour middle class

You've really go to wonder what Labour is on about with a capital gains tax. It seems that they continue to want to divide the country along lines Phil Goff wants to draw - defining who is worth helping and who is only worth taxing.
The point has been made by Tariana Turia in recent days that even those on modest incomes may own or hope to own another residence for investment purposes or to help out their friends and family by way of providing a good rental property. In Wanganui this can be done relatively cheaply compared to other centres around New Zealand. Those people who have or would like to have a flat or a holiday home include those in the middle-income bracket. They are teachers and policemen, panel beaters and shopkeepers.
These people also fit in the middle of the political spectrum, too, and frequently decide who wins and who loses elections. Labour is likely to consolidate those who will always vote for them, but lose those swinging voters who may have last time decided not to vote National after the scare-mongering of Labour. But they have realised that John Key isn't a bad sort of a bloke after all, particularly given the challenges of this term with earthquakes and financial collapse, worldwide recession and all, and they will vote National this time.
Those who look at a capital gains tax from a purist accountant's view and believe the threat of such a tax is not as bad as all that may well keep voting National for a myriad of other reasons.
What Labour has not told its core voters is that a capital gains tax will drive up rentals by about 6 per cent.
Those who are struggling with high rents will be paying more. Labour's promise of an extra $10 per week for those on the minimum wage will quickly have this swallowed up in increased rents, which will also account for any GST taken from fresh fruit and vegetables.
A farmer selling a farm to buy the neighbour's farm down the road will pay 15 per cent capital gains tax. The young couple who buy a bakery for $50,000 then work 19 hours per day and build it up to a $150,000 business will be taxed for that hard work.
It is not always about what people have right now, but what they aspire to have in the future, whether it be a bach for the family to come to for Christmas and holidays or a small business and the opportunity to work for yourself - maybe not now but in five or ten years.
Labour would tax this.
This is why the division between National and Labour is a division between aspiration and envy.
So Labour is likely to keep those who will never vote anything else, but is likely to lose those in the middle they may have been able to keep or attract.
This may not be such a big thing for this year's election, but will be a bigger issue in the election of 2014.