Who is going to be our voice of reason now?
Andrew lists some of his achievements include.......
- Stopping the WOF
However, fighting the end of interest deductibility predictions continues to be a thorn in his side.
Andrew got it right when he said Landlords would put up rents, and Auckland University Prof. Robert Mac Colloch got it wrong. Plus there's this is a classic response from the academic!
MacCulloch said property investment was not a business like any other and should not automatically have the benefit of deducting interest for tax purposes.
He said most businesses produced a product or service which added value, contributed to a growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and as a result incurred goods and services tax (GST), whereas the buying and selling of used houses did not.
“It is not that unreasonable that the Government says there is a group of folks who are not contributing to GDP in the usual way but are instead buying and selling houses and speculating and living off the capital gain and maybe renting out the property in between.
“Well that is not adding GDP to the country, aside from rental services. But many Kiwi landlords have not been in this game for the rental side of things but instead are primarily hunting for the capital gain.”
He said most businesses produced a product or service which added value, contributed to a growth in the country's gross domestic product (GDP), and as a result incurred goods and services tax (GST), whereas the buying and selling of used houses did not.
“It is not that unreasonable that the Government says there is a group of folks who are not contributing to GDP in the usual way but are instead buying and selling houses and speculating and living off the capital gain and maybe renting out the property in between.
“Well that is not adding GDP to the country, aside from rental services. But many Kiwi landlords have not been in this game for the rental side of things but instead are primarily hunting for the capital gain.”
You can see what Andrew was up against - and he said not being able to convince Govt to not end interest deductibility was his greatest regret.
Thankfully, he has called it a day and he is now on a very long road trip with his wife - around the Americas. Thank you Andrew, and bon voyage!
cheers,
Donna