28 Apr 2015

Tax questions for Auckland housing market

1:10 pm on 28 April 2015

The Government is looking at how Inland Revenue's enforcement resources can be beefed up in relation to leveraging tax off the trading of houses, Finance Minister Bill English says.

Bill English during caucas run this morning.

Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Mr English said real estate agents and buyers were pointing to higher levels of trading activity in the Auckland housing market, which he said raised the question as to whether Inland Revenue needed to do more.

He said the Government was looking at what extra resources Inland Revenue might need in the Budget.

New Zealand has a tax aimed at property speculators and developers who buy a property with the express intention of reselling it, but it does not capture those who buy properties to rent out.

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