IMF calls for capital gains and land taxes

Grant Robertson (seen here at the Labour campaign launch last year) used his valedictory speech to repeat his belief that a wealth or capital gains tax is needed, on the same day the IMF also called for capital and/or land taxes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: Here’s the six news items that stood out to me this morning, along with today’s scoops elsewhere, plus charts, quotes, cartoons and my timeline-cleansing nature pic:

1. The IMF warned yesterday the Government to fully offset promised tax cuts with spending cuts and/or tax increases elsewhere to avoid further stimulating inflation;

2. The IMF again said Aotearoa-NZ should adopt a comprehensive capital gains tax, a land value tax and cut corporate taxes to improve investment and productivity, but Nicola Willis said voters didn’t agree;

3. Grant Robertson gave a thoughtful and at times dryly funny valedictory speech in Parliament last night, and repeated a wealth or capital tax was needed;

4. RNZ is reporting this morning officials warned Christopher Luxon not to keep saying anti-smoking laws would increase retail crime because the evidence didn’t show that;

5. Carbon prices slumped to $55/tonne yesterday after the Government failed in its first ETS auction in 2024 to sell all its credits at the floor price of $64/tonne. BusinessDesk-$$$

6. Our friend and colleague Rod Oram, 73, died on Tuesday two days after suffering a cardiac arrest and crashing off his bike at Ambury Park in Māngere Bridge. Newsroom RNZ Stuff

* There’s a late-breaking draft report on banking competition out from the Commerce Commission that is coming out just as we publish, which “revealed a two-tier sector with limited competition and no disruptive forces to drive change and deliver consumer benefits.” I’ll cover this in more depth tomorrow.

IMF warns against tax cut stimulus and calls again for CGT & land tax