Former National party leader Don Brash has hit out at the Tax Working Group for what he says is a race-based discount for iwi businesses built into the proposed capital gains tax released yesterday.
He argues that it shows the Tax Working Group believes that Māori can’t achieve without a tax break.
The Tax Working Group’s final report, released yesterday, recommended that iwi-owned businesses would pay a discounted rate of 17.5 per cent, compared to 33 per cent for other businesses.
"The TWG has still not dealt with the anomaly that businesses run by charities are exempt from tax - also benefiting many iwi corporations as well as church-related businesses," Mr Brash said.
The Tax Working Group’s main recommendation is a tax on capital gains charged at 33 per cent for most taxpayers. Mr Brash has voiced adamant opposition, characterising the proposal as one of the most punitive capital gains tax regimes in the world, and more than twice the rate proposed by the Labour Party at the 2011 and 2014 elections.
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