Venture gains tax policy hazy
Labour's proposal unlikely to include venture capital investments.
Friday, November 25 2011 || News || BY Jazial Crossley, Businessday.co.nz
Labour's proposal for a capital gains tax would be unlikely to include venture capital investments, despite leader Phil Goff's constant quoting of Sam Morgan's Trade Me sale as an example of untaxed profit-making transactions.
Fine print in Labour's policy of a capital gains tax scheme states that an expert tax group would "advise whether venture capital investment should be exempt from capital gains tax as in Australia to avoid a trans-Tasman tax differential, or whether, for reasons of simplicity, asset neutrality and anti-avoidance, venture capital should be treated in the same way as other investments".
Profits made on investments in start-up companies and large-scale, multimillion-dollar share deals would be exempt and would not be charged capital gains tax under the policy, as it stands now.
