New Zealand leads the way
Bit of news from across the pond. Looks like New Zealand’s new Labour government is setting the stage to remove negative gearing, by ring-fencing losses on residential property so they can’t be offset against salary income.
An Issues Paper has been released by the Inland Revenue Department on the proposal to change the rules in what the Government says is “an effort to level the playing field between speculators and investors – and home buyers”.
IRD is proposing that the new rules will apply from the 2019-20 tax year and will mean that investors will no longer be able to offset losses on property investments against their other income. It’s not definite yet that the new rules will be applied in entirety from April 1 next year as the IRD says it would be possible to phase the rules in over a two or three year period (by gradually reducing the amount of losses that can be applied against other income). However, the IRD appears to favour applying the rules in entirety from next year.
Revenue Minister Stuart Nash, in “encouraging feedback” on the proposed changes, says the “persistent tax losses” that many property investors declare on their investments indicate that they rely on capital gains to make a profit..
The changes will “make the tax system fairer” Nash says…
“In conjunction with the recently announced extension to the bright-line test, ring-fencing losses from rental properties would make property speculation less attractive and level the playing field between property investors and home buyers. The time is right to test the detail of this proposal with investors and other stakeholders,” Nash says…
IRD is suggesting that the ring-fencing should apply on a “portfolio basis”, which means that investors would be able to offset losses from one rental property against rental income from other properties – calculating their overall profit or loss across their portfolio.
Also under the suggested changes, a person’s ring-fenced residential rental or other losses from one year could be offset against their residential rental income from future years (from any property) and their taxable income on the sale of any residential land.
I think this is all pretty interesting. For me, if New Zealand pulls the trigger first, you can pretty much lock it in that Australia will go at some point. The same way that Trump’s tax cuts breathed life into the prospect of tax cuts in Australia.
It’s working at the collective consciousness level.
And I actually don’t mind some of the proposed changes. The idea of a portfolio basis – where loses in one property can be offset against income from another – is a great idea. It’s about recognising that property investors are running a business, and treating all their activities that way.
But I didn’t know what the ‘bright line test’ was. I had to look it up:
The bright line test – which requires tax to be paid on any gains made from a residential property sale – was first imposed by the National-led Government in 2015.
The Labour-led Government has argued the measures don’t go far enough and that extending the test to five years will help deter property speculators and “may” have of a dampening effect on the housing market.
National opposed the changes, despite it being a bill that “in the normal course of events, we very much would have been supporting,”.
“But we cannot support this bill because of the egregious, and I think in fact duplicitous, way in which a stealth capital gains tax is being imposed on New Zealanders through this legislation.”
So the gain you make on any property you sell within 5 years is added to your personal income and taxed. And that’s new because NZ doesn’t have capital gains tax…
(Why aren’t their prices higher?)
But seriously, 5 years is a pretty long time in property investment. I don’t think you’re just going to deter ‘speculators’ and ‘property flippers’ with that. You’re deterring everyone.
It’s that old narrative again. That everyone investing in property is just flipping and speculating and getting something for nothing.
I guess unless you’ve actually owned an investment property, you don’t realise how much work is involved.
It’s not nothing. And there’s risks too. You could get a bad tenant. Or no tenant. As an investor, you’re wearing that risk.
So I’m a little tired of this narrative that all investors are speculators and gamblers. That we’ve got nothing to offer the world.
Give us a break.
But I just don’t know how we’re going to shift it.
JG
Roger says
I think it would be good if NZ tries this first. Admittedly there are some differences in their system and ours but it is still pretty darn close to our model.Let them be the guinea pigs!.
It will be interesting to see if if rents start to rise to offset the investor reduced returns. I wonder if there will be a sell off of investment properties that sets a price tumble in motion.
Whatever the reactions it will be very interesting to be able to observe the results and learn from them before we follow or reject the reforms.
John says
I though NZ had positive cash flow or atleast neutral cash flow properties so this wouldn’t be an issue