Waiting for Labour's tax policy

Contrary to rumours from some sectors, Phil Goff has not been kidnapped by Trevor Mallard or forcibly kept from appearing on TV; he's alive, well and working on Labour's tax policy - the Herald reports:

Labour is set to announce new tax policies but leader Phil Goff is tight-lipped about whether a new tax would be part of the package.

He confirmed today an announcement would be expected over the next couple of weeks.

"It will be in the area of taxation and we'll be looking at, as we've foreshadowed, indicating how we would be paying for the policies that we're introducing, and any changes in the broad taxation area," he told reporters.

Mr Goff would not say whether new taxes would be announced, such as a financial transactions or capital gains tax.

"I'm not ruling anything in or out at this stage, you'll just have to wait for the announcement when we've completed the policy process."

He would not say what Labour's current stance was on a capital gains tax, telling reporters he would not talk about taxation issues ahead of the announcement.

Now you'd have to be naive in the extreme to think that Labour isn't planning to tax higher income earners, just as Michael Cullen did after Labour was elected in 1999. Bill English agrees - read on:

Finance Minister Bill English said he would not be surprised if Labour wanted to get more tax.

"But we want a competitive economy where we can lift incomes by selling more to the rest of the world and more taxes are going to make it harder for New Zealanders to earn a living, not easier," he said.

We will wait with bated breath for Phil Goff's announcement in the next couple of weeks. We just have two questions; Does Labour still intend to Axe the Tax? And if the answer to that question is no, will Phil Goff pay back Parliamentary Services for the money spent bussing around New Zealand (note the Parliamentary Crest just alongside Goff's left ear) saying that they were?

UPDATE (6.30pm): So now we know; someone within Labour has leaked the details of a Capital Gains Tax to Guyon Espiner from One News. And as we were driving home this evening, we heard a great description of Labour's plans to raise the top tax rate - it's the "chip on shoulder" tax, which describes Labour pretty darned accurately.