National's finance spokesperson Nicola Willis says "it's too late now" to claw back the massive capital gains that wealthy Kiwis made amid the pandemic.
It comes after Inland Revenue (IRD) and Treasury last week released findings on the tax system's fairness, raising policy questions ahead of this year's election.
Speaking to Q+A, Willis reiterated the party's line on opposition to a capital gains tax.
"It would be completely wrong to retrospectively say we're going to claw back income that you earned on the basis that it wasn't being taxed."
This week, the IRD and Treasury released the findings from studies looking at how much tax high-wealth individuals pay across all income sources, and another on what the general population pays.
The IRD report gathered information on 311 of the country's wealthiest families - many of them with a net worth of more than $50m.
Treasury found the general population pays an effective 20.2% tax rate across all income sources. The IRD found that high-wealth individuals, by comparison, pay about 9.4%.
Earlier in the week, Willis said untaxed capital gains resulting from the Government's economic management during the pandemic "has led to massive capital gains for some, at the expense of everyday workers".
Meanwhile, the Greens used the reports release to call for a wealth and capital gains tax.
Speaking to Q+A, National's deputy leader said she was thinking about mum-and-dad landlords and people who had "built up that little nest egg".
A study gathered information from 311 families worth more than $50m each. (Source: 1News)
"I think about people who've spent their working lives building up their small business, people who've built up that little nest egg, who've built up that second property that they've used as a rental.
"We worry about slapping them with another tax sends exactly the wrong message about what we want to happen in New Zealand. We want people investing, we want them saving, and we want them putting some aside for the future," Willis said.
"What we want to do is bring the bottom up. We will not do that by taking the top down. We need people who are prepared to invest in businesses that employ people and create good jobs. We need people who are going to be creative and entrepreneurial."
It comes after Christopher Luxon defended rich New Zealanders and used the reports to attack the Government's financial management instead.
The National leader said the Government's economic management was to blame. (Source: 1News)
Luxon told Breakfast on Thursday that a slowing economy, inflation, and rising food prices were "irrelevant" to how much wealth that rich Kiwis had.
"How much the wealthy own or don't own is irrelevant to actually middle New Zealand who are really struggling with rising inflation, rising interest rates and a slowing economy and rising food prices," Luxon said.
"You know, I was on a budgeting session with a family who are at risk of losing their homes. What happens here with the wealthy and what they do or don't doesn't impact on that."
On Wednesday, he blamed the Government's economic management for inflating asset classes like housing in the past two years.
"Be under no illusion; it's not the wealthy that are the problem here. The problem here is the Government that had economic policies that led to massive inflation in asset classes that are nominal. They haven't always been realised.
"Remember, the gains are only realised when the assets are sold."
The National leader spoke to Breakfast about the party's plans to cut tax for some Kiwis and its new policy on mental health. (Source: Breakfast)
Earlier, Revenue Minister David Parker said the reviews weren't an attack on the rich.
"To be clear, this work is not about chasing tax avoiders, nor is it about attacking the rich. Wealthy New Zealanders are usually hard-working and creative people who comply with current rules. They have assisted IRD with this inquiry, and I am grateful for that," he said.
"The excellent work in this survey will enable future discussions on tax policy to be based on solid evidence."
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