Prime Minister John Key is considering a land tax on foreign-based house buyers if there is evidence they are pushing up New Zealand house prices.
The tax would apply at the same time to all foreign-based buyers who are tax residents elsewhere, including Kiwis abroad.
"If you want it to be much more difficult for a non-resident to buy a property, the most effective way to deal with that issue is a land tax because it is annual, it is expensive, it can be ratcheted up or down," said Key.
Read more:
• John Key's land tax plan may catch Kiwis buying from overseas
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said Mr Key had "done worse than nothing" on the issue of land and houses in foreign hands. "He has denied whilst there has been an explosion of offshore purchases."
