KEY POINTS:
Victims of the leaky homes crisis are calling for a tax break on huge repair bills - they are angry the Government rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars in GST, despite bearing a heavy responsibility for the crisis.
Robyn (not her real name) is facing a $162,000
bill for repairs on her unit north of Auckland.
"Out of that amount I am paying $20,000 GST," she said.
"I would like [the Government] to face up to the fact there is a problem and give people a way they can claim their GST back."
Robyn said the national "disaster" was primarily the Government's fault because it allowed the introduction in building of untreated timber, which is susceptible to rotting when wet.
Homeowners and Buyers Association president John Gray said it was "galling" the Government was reaping a tax take from the crisis.
"If you work on the estimate of 80,000 homes that are potentially in the category of leaky homes, then the numbers are massive."
Gray said the average repair cost was in the low to mid-$200,000s, leading to a GST return for the Government of about $2 billion.
With about $3.2b being spent on lawyers' fees, that meant another $400 million flowing into Treasury coffers.
"Then there are all of the not-so-obvious GST takes around the consequential costs, like temporary rental accommodation, valuations, additional insurances, doctors' bills, and psychologists' bills," said Gray.
He said councils shoulder much of the blame for signing off sub-standard homes but suggested a system whereby leaky property owners could get a GST refund on sums they were not compensated for.
Bill Duval, of the Stop Leaky Building Group, said it would be "great" if the Government provided tax relief.
"If the Government is serious about it, when people find themselves in that situation, there should be a tax break for them - a rebate on their income tax for the year they are doing the work," he said. "That would go a lot further to help them.
"This is totally wiping people out financially. It's like working for 20 years for absolutely nothing."
Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said he was aware of the concerns around GST bills faced by leaky home owners but the issue had not been formally raised with him. He said it was unlikely changes could be made to GST for any one group.
"GST is a broad-based system. We don't make exemptions. The moment we started to move ahead with that we would diminish the tax base and that has to be made up elsewhere."
Dunne said the Government was able to offer tax relief in other areas, such as during national emergencies, and he would look at a firm proposal if it was put forward.
He said he had dealt with several people who had suffered big losses through leaky buildings in his work as United Future leader.
Dunne said he considered local councils bore the heaviest responsibility for the crisis.