Watson qualified her comments with a warning about the compliance costs of introducing such a tax, and she made it clear she was opposed to any tax on unrealised gains. But her intervention adds another voice in a now growing chorus of influential New Zealanders\u00a0calling for a capital gains or wealth tax<\/a>.<\/p>\n “In this country, people are investing in housing for the purpose of getting a capital gain on it. And if that’s the purpose of it, why not have that as part of the tax take? Have a capital gains tax on realised gains?”<\/p>\n The tax should be levied “once you’ve got the money in the bank,” she said.<\/p>\n “I think that there is some fairness in saying that a gain from a capital gain [is the same] compared to a gain from your income.”<\/p>\n *\u00a030 with Guyon Espiner comes out every week on<\/i>\u00a0RNZ<\/a>,\u00a0Youtube<\/a>,\u00a0TVNZ+<\/a>\u00a0and wherever you get podcasts.<\/i><\/p>\n Labour campaigned on a capital gains tax as part of a suite of major changes at the 2014 election but was soundly beaten. Then, in government Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern considered it again but ultimately ruled it out under her leadership. Last year, a wealth tax plan put together by then-Revenue Minister David Parker was ditched by leader Chris Hipkins.<\/p>\n