Tauranga business and some property sector leaders have reacted positively to the proposed tax system changes proposed in the Tax Working Group report released on Wednesday.
These include increasing GST from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent, lowering personal tax and a method of taxing capital gains on residential rental properties and a low-rate land tax.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Max Mason welcomes the Tax Working Group's report but says reductions in government expenditure in tandem with tax cuts will be necessary if the government wants to make a real difference.
'Aligning top personal, company and investment tax rates would be beneficial for the whole country. Lower taxes would make New Zealand a more attractive destination for capital and people. They would improve our competitiveness and boost investment, employment, productivity and economic growth.”
Max is concerned about the impact on Tauranga's rental market and retailers.
'Retailers will be concerned about the impact on sales. Another concern will be the effects on tourism, competitiveness both at a local retail level, and for the organisers of tour groups sold internationally. This may affect our competitiveness because nobody likes tax increases.”
Eves Reality Limited branch manager Craig Hilton says the proposed changes would be less severe than people think.
'They are talking about taxing the equity and not the total value of a property. If that's the model, that sounds quite good and quite fair because it will be offset by reduced personal tax.”
He says the suggestion to axe an investor's ability to claim depreciation might not be as bad as some are anticipating.
'It sounds worse than what it is. When you attach numbers to it, they are not significant numbers compared to the value of properties.”
He believes rental prices could increase but does not believe the proposed changes would have a big impact.
'When there have been changes in the past, there has been an impact on the market. If landlords see their margins changing it would be a natural assumption that it may have some effect. But rent is market driven and the effect of supply and demand would have a greater impact.”