The government muddies the waters around its policy of no new taxes, says the National Party

A senior government minister is muddying the waters when it comes to Labor’s pre-election promise not to raise income taxes during this term, says the National Party.

National has used the comments made by Finance Minister David Parker this morning, when he defended the government by ordering the Treasury to study the possibility of expanding the test of the bright line.

“We were clear: no capital gains taxes, no wealth taxes, we didn’t say we wouldn’t change the details of existing taxes,” he told the AM Show.

Parker was being challenged by the capital gains tax policy this morning after National Representative Simon Bridges accused Labor of breaking its pre-election promise of no new taxes this term.

“We are not promising a new tax. The only thing that is being considered is whether we should extend the period for the test of the bright line,” he said.

Parker then said that the bright line test was not a capital gains tax, it was an “income tax.”

But these comments appear to contradict the comments of Finance Minister Grant Robertson before the election.

Speaking at the launch of Labor tax policy in September, Robertson was clear about his party’s plans for any additional taxes.

“The work will not implement any new taxes, nor will it make any additional increase to the income tax next period.”

National has disagreed with this, as Parker described the Brightline test this morning as an income tax.

The party’s shadow treasurer, Andrew Bayly, said Parker’s comments show that Labor is already reeling from its electoral promise not to alter income taxes this term.

A Parker spokesman said extending the bright line test was not a new tax: “National is getting ahead of it because no decision has been made.”

Earlier this week, Robertson revealed that he had asked the Treasury for advice on how to extend the bright line test.

At the moment, the bright line test means that if someone sells an unfamiliar home within five years, they have to pay taxes on it.

Bayly said extending the trial would do nothing to address the issue of house prices.

The law’s leader, David Seymour, made the same argument, calling it a “stealth capital gains tax.”

Despite the National and Act’s objection to the extension, both parties voted in favor of the bill when it was introduced by the then National Government in 2015.