The government had to weigh up costs and benefits of a diluted Capital Gains Tax, Finance Minister Grant Robertson has said, refusing to pin the backdown on New Zealand First's opposition to it.
Jacinda Ardern announced yesterday that the government would not introduce a tax on capital gains, even going so far as to rule it - and taxes on water or fertiliser - out for as long as she remains prime minister.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, speaking on Morning Report today, backed her position.
"What the prime minister said was, having campaigned in 2011, 2014 and 2017 on this and put it to a group of experts, it was time to accept that there wasn't a mandate there to pursue it."
