Politics Live Blog: 28 August - 3 September
Foreign buyer tax for mansions, but ban for under $2 million houses
The National Party is relying on wealthy foreign buyers, and a new tax targetting them, to provide $740 million per year in Government revenue.
The party is proposing giving foreign buyers access to property sold for $2 million plus. It wants to impose a 15% tax on those sales.
National Party finance spokesperson Nicola Willis said she expected fewer than 2000 houses each year to be sold and taxed under this plan.
This is a partial reversal of the 2018 foreign home buyers ban, imposed by the then Labour and NZ First Government. At the time, overseas buyers accounted for about 3% of house sales.