Is it a knot? Is it a tangle? The ever-growing tax web

Is it a knot? Is it a tangle? The ever-growing tax web
The latest proposals for the tax treatment of residential rentals tips the tax code further into mind-bending complexity
Pattrick Smellie
If a low-rate, broad-based tax system falls apart over many years, does anybody notice?In case it’s not obvious, this is a clumsy attempt to liken the gradual erosion of the radical simplification of the New Zealand tax system in the 1980s to the old Philosophy 101 problem of whether a tree that falls in a forest makes a noise if nobody’s there to hear it.I was there when that 1980s transformation was taking place, as a junior press secretary to Roger Douglas, the finance minister at the time.Roger made short work of the question ab...

More Property

Willis Bond selling $42m Catalina Bay precinct
Property

Willis Bond selling $42m Catalina Bay precinct

Willis Bond bought the Hobsonville Point property for redevelopment in 2016.

John Anthony 22 Aug 2025
The key question driving Fletcher's asset sales
Property

The key question driving Fletcher's asset sales

Construction is for sale, and now residential could be too. What's next?

Fletcher Building's loss balloons to $419m
Property

Fletcher Building's loss balloons to $419m

Fletcher boss says 2025 has been one of its most demanding years in recent memory.

Auckland Council proposes downzoning 12,000 properties
Policy

Auckland Council proposes downzoning 12,000 properties

The council is also proposing to enable 10-15 storey apartments around more than 40 hubs.

Oliver Lewis 19 Aug 2025