Tax upheaval coming - or is it?

If you believe the media and the growing talkfest about what everyone “knows” is true, NZ is due for a major tax shake-up - or is it?
At the moment there is a lot of hype and the media is reporting that the tax system is “broke”. That may be so, but it will take politicians with conviction to fix it.
Neither Prime Minister Key nor Finance Minister English have shown any stomach to date for the hard yards (to the disappointment of many), just as their former labour colleagues couldn’t bring themselves to do it either.
Make no mistake about it, GST increases, capital gains’ taxes, property investment changes and their impacts on rents, and tax rate disparities are hard issues.
The Government’s actions will be hemmed in by its reliance on Maori Party support. And the latter will again fall for the old left-aligned arguments about the changes proposed not being good for its followers, despite the fact that clearly they would be in the long term.
For my money, the Government will tinker around the edges (again!), much to the frustration of those having the best long-term interests of NZ at heart.