Labour's housing tax changes are divisive and unfair. They're about blaming Mum and Dad investors and they'll do nothing to improve housing affordability.

The change to interest deductibility will reduce the number of rentals, push rents up, and make it harder for Kiwis to save for their first home.

Sign the petition: Stop Labour's interest deductibility change.

Labour's extension of the bright-line test has created a capital gains tax by stealth. When National introduced the bright-line test in 2015, David Seymour said:

“…this tax is the acorn of a capital gains tax. It is a measure that will grow from 2 years to 5 to 10 to 15 years. You watch: it will eventually apply to a wider range of homes. It is the acorn that the National Party has planted that will grow into a full-blown capital gains tax.”

The pre-2015 law would have seen tax paid on income from property speculation. The bright-line test was unnecessary but has been allowed to grow into a CGT. 

ACT would reverse Labour's interest deductibility change and abolish the bright-line test completely.

Our focus must be on easier planning rules and smarter infrastructure funding. Only that will address house affordability for the next generation. You can read ACT's comprehensive housing plan, Build Like The Boomers, here.

Brooke van Velden
ACT Deputy Leader, Housing Spokesperson